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adultswim2021 · 3 years

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Home Movies #6: “Director's Cut” September 2, 2001 - 10:00 PM | S01E06 Home Movies! The first *OFFICIAL* thing to air on Adult Swim! Home Movies was created by Brendon Small, previously of nothing, and Loren Bouchard, previously of Dr. Katz: Professional Therapist. Produced by Tom Snyder Productions (renamed Soup2Nuts by the time this episode aired). This first season of Home Movies utilized Squigglevision, first used in Dr. Katz. The show originally aired on UPN for the first five episodes back in 1999 and was promptly cancelled due to low ratings. I was one of the very few people who caught it during the UPN run, I saw, I think, one and a half episodes. Then, it was gone. I probably would’ve forgotten all about it were it not for Adult Swim’s revival of it. I kind of faintly recall seeing the initial promos for this show and thinking I’d seen it before. Do I explain the premise of the show here now? Okay, I guess I will. Brendon is (googling how old he’s supposed to be) an 8-year-old boy who makes amateur camcorder movies with his friends. Brendon and his friends are smart for their age, owing to the fact that they are voiced by adults leaning on their improv chops. There’s a ton of improv in the show. Brendon lives with his single mother and his dad is largely absent due to freakin’ cancel culture. His father figure is an alcoholic soccer coach named McGurk, voiced by Jon Benjamin, formally Ben Katz on Dr. Katz. In fact, it took me a while before i got used to his voice coming out of McGurk’s mouth, because I so strongly associated it with Ben. The plot of this episode is that Brendon’s crew want to film a script written by Duane, an older kid who performs all the music for Brendon’s movies. He wrote a rock opera about Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis, which I have never and will never read. Brendon favors his own script and is jealous that Duane’s project is such a hit. The B-story is similar, McGurk is jealous of his assistant coach Drew who is doing a much better job than him. Drew is voiced by Larry Murphy, voice of Teddy from Bob’s Burgers and Assy McGee from Assy McGee. He speaks in what resembles his natural speaking voice, I assume, and you’d never guess it was him. I think this episode is good, but it’s light on laughs compared to episodes that came after it. Also, the literary references don’t thrill me. WE GET IT: YOU WENT TO COLLEGE. Big whoop. Go write for a Lampoon, why don’t you? I did listen to the DVD audio commentary for this (which are really funny! I forgot how funny they were!), which revealed that it was less about trying to find a literary reference and more about needing something public domain to make a rock opera about to avoid legal trouble. In fact, this episode was originally supposed to be a TRON rock opera. The other thing I have a mild distaste for is the aspiring film-maker character. You’d think I would hate this show, being that the whole thing is about an aspiring film-maker. Usually when there’s an aspiring film-maker character in a movie or TV show they are portrayed as a cutesy dreamer, and it usually doesn’t go deeper than that. Even though it’s reflecting a very true-to-life personality type I usually can’t stomach it in fiction. Who among us doesn’t know an obnoxious, borderline-delusional narcissist with stars in their eyes, getting off on acting the part of a bigshot creative type. But I guess all real-life bigshot creative types start out this way, so what the fuck kind of point am I even making right now? Anyway, there’s a scene in this episode where Brendon and his friends are negotiating the business side of their various projects and Jason demands “points” without having a firm grasp of what “points” are. It’s extremely funny, despite the weird hang-ups I described earlier. My favorite bit is the cold open, when McGurk questions why the team never carried him off the field in a celebratory manner after he witnesses Drew getting that treatment. “We tried once, but you were too big” Brendon says. McGurk is offended. “I mean, you were too... drunk” Brendon corrects himself. McGurk happily accepts. Goddamn, that’s a funny joke. Other things of note? This was the start of Adult Swim proper, with the old people swimming bumpers and whatnot. I think I touched on that stuff in one of my preamble posts, so I won’t belabor it here. But yes, this is technically the first Adult Swim show to air ON Adult Swim. What else? I like to complain about internet dorks who leap to wild conclusions about “unaired” episodes of shows, so I’ll do that to close this out. I think Home Movies fans tend to believe that this episode as well as the rest of “season one” as we know it were just laying around on broadcast master tapes spitefully not being aired by UPN until Adult Swim rescued it. I believe that there had to be a break in production which resumed sometime between UPN and Adult Swim, and MAYBE this episode was partially produced, but probably not. But since Brendon’s mom is now voiced by not Paula Poundstone (which she was in the UPN episodes), I’m lead to believe that this could almost be considered the start of a new season. I guess I’ll find out if they ever discuss this in the DVD commentaries (they didn’t in the one I heard).

#adult swim #home movies #adultswim2021

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hello-robin-goodfellow · 3 years

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TOP 20 DAVID WARNER ROLES (PART II)

10º Ivan Petrovich ‘Vanya’ Voynitsky (Performance: Uncle Vanya, 1991)

Warner leads in this 1991 televised production of one of the most famous Anton Chekhov plays. Ivan Petrovich (Uncle Vanya for his niece Sonya) is a more then sad and angry man, who sacrificed dreams of love and intelectual success to administrate a cottage of wich provide money to his brother in law, an old professor called Serebryakov (Ian Bannen) that does nothing but look down upon him, all the while being favoured by Vanya’s own mother. Making matters worst, Vanya is one of the two man who is in love with the professors wife, Yelena (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio). Two days of a family reunion mostly consisting of verbal fightings eventually makes all the tension that acumulates in Vanya’s mind eventually explode.

09º Konstantin Treplev (The Seagull, 1968)

The younger spiritual predecessour of Ivan Petrovich. Konstantin Treplev is an aspiring writer, who wishes to find a new style to talk about dreams, receiving praises from his mother (veteran actress Arkadina, played by Simone Signoret) and the love of the beautifull aspiring actress (Vanessa Redgrave). But the popularity of the best-selling writer Boris Trigorin (James Mason) and Konstantin’s problems to directly comunicate his feelings eventually make him fall down a tragic spiral of loneliness.

08º Bob Cratchit (A Christmas Carol, 1984)

Interestingly, when this 1984 adaptation of A Christmas Carol, Warner was first invited to play Jacob Marley. But he asked to play Bob Cratchit instead. And we all must be glad that he did, because he gives a very wholesome performance, that makes anyone wish to have him as a father figure.

07º Keith Jennings (The Omen, 1976)

In this aclaimed 1976 horror film, Warner’s character is a photographer, whose only job was to registrate the birthday party of the rich child of the american embassador (Gregory Peck) until a series of strange accidents start to kill people who knew that child or his relatives. Intrigued, Keith Jennings starts to investigate, and decides to form a duo with the american embassador, filling the role of the more proactive lancer to the mostly passive protagonist. One of David Warner’s most iconic good guy roles ever putt on the big screen.

06º Merlin (The Wizard, 2013 and The Once and Future King, 2014)

The two years in a row when David Warner played one of the most iconic wizrd mentor figures in mithology and pop culture. In 2013′s comedic short film The Wizard, Warner plays a Merlin that wakes up in modern times and is starting to adapt in a office work, while his colleagues try to adapt to his magic quirks. And in the BBC Radio 4 six episode drama The Once and Future King (adapted by Brian Sibley, the same guy who adapted the 1981 Lord of the Rings radio drama, from the novel series by T. H. White), where Merlin’s spirit sits alongside Arthur in the final battle for a conversation, we see how his Merlin could have acted in the past alongside King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, providing wise counsels with a bit of a snarky sense of humour and melancholy. Those works are two “must check out” for David Warner fans and for fantasy and arthurian mithology fans.

05º The Evil One (Time Bandits, 1981) and Ed Dilinger/Comander Sark/Master Control Program (Tron, 1982)

Yes, number five is a tye. Those two movies camed in a row, and in both David Warner played technology themed villains. In the first, Time Bandits, he is implied to be the Devil himself, and as such is portrayed as very powerfull and in control during most of the movie. In the second, Tron, Warner gives a triple performance: as the human Ed Dilinger and the program Comander Sark, he believes he is in control, but in reality is not. The real power is hold by Warner’s third character, the Master Control Program of the videogame. This transiction from a more simple one-and-all-powerfull antagonist to a more complex dinamic of a trio of antagonists was, for a lot of people, the introduction to Warner’s acting range, and for this reason it appears as a tye in this ranking.

04º The Doctor (Sympathy for The Devil, 2003 and Masters of War, 2008)

In the late 1970s, the BBC camed to search David Warner with an offer for him to play the Doctor in the main Doctor Who BBC Television series. He was interested, but unfortunally his filming schedule conflicted in working more them one season into a long-running TV Show, so he had to put the offer down. It was only in the 2000s, after the founding of the audio-drama company, that we would get a grasp of his portrayal of the Doctor, in the what-if scenarios provided by two episodes of Doctor Who Unbound: Sympathy for The Devil and Masters of War. In those audiodramas, he plays a alternate encarnation of the Third Doctor that is sent to Earth in 1997 instead of 1969, and thus could not help U.N.I.T with the Alien Invasions that happen in the 1970s. Thus, he finds a retired and pub-owning version of Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart, and has to relearn to gain his thrust, until the two become companions of adventures that investigate new alie threads indepedently of U.N.I.T

Warner’s Doctor is a bit less quirky encarnation of the character, having instead a more pratical temperment. He sees the danger, and he goes straight to investigate how to stop it, all the while trying to keep the people around him calm. And later he will make a comment about neading more conforting and fitting shoes.

This is a Doctor that you would surely trust to keep your life safe.

03º Lisander (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 1968)

A production that made a lot of millenials become Shakespeare fanboys, and they own this in part to David Warner’s performance as Lisander, one of the most romantic (if a bit bumbling) Shakespeare protagonists. Seeing the moments when he conforts and encourages his beloved Hérmia (Helen Mirren) and makes a mess of himself when he is enchanted to fall for Helena (Diana Rigg) is one of the most fun rides that an audience will ever get. Seriously, his Lisander was adorkable before the word ‘adorkable’ even existed.

02º Henry VI (The Wars of The Roses, 1965)

From a fun and very popular Shakespeare protagonist, to a heart-breaking and very underrated protagonist. For years i was one of several people who did not care for the Henry VI plays as it cared for its famous sequel, Richard III.

This all changed when i watched this 1965 televised production of the Wars of the Roses, that condenses the four plays in a way that makes it more accessible for audiences. Once again, this was helped in a big part by the performances of the cast.

David Warner was only 24 years old during this production, and had to cary the role of the vulnerable Henry VI from his youth to his old age and eventual murder by Richard III.

And in my opinion, he carried it brilliantly. This was the sign that a very versatile actor would have a very long career.

And my number one David Warner role is...

01º Morgan Delt (Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment, 1966)

Henry VI stablished David Warner as a lead in theater and television. Now it was time to stablish him as the lead in film. And they did exactly that when casting him in the role of Morgan Delt, a painter who grew up mixing a familiar comunist education with an obsession with animals (particularly gorilaz) and is frustratred with his divorce of his socialite wife Leonie (Vanessa Redgrave), who is about to marry Jack Napier (Robert Stephens), art merchant and Morgan’s previous best friend. While trying every crazy squeam to take his wife back, Morgan must take on a journey to mature, so he can his wife go and be happy and he can recouver his career. But until this happens, transitioning from the sweet and romantic to the angry and scary, for Morgan, taking bombs home and wearing ridiculous gorila suits it is.

For showing the range between scary villain and simpathetic hero that would be his trademark on years to come, and providing loud laughs mixed with an interesting commentary on masculine insecurity and entitlement, is that Morgan Delt is my favorite David Warner role.

@amalthea9 @superkingofpriderock

#david warner #actor david warner #rankings

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brokehorrorfan · 4 years

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Blu-ray Review: The Omen Collection

In the pantheon of religious horror, the holy trinity consists of The Exorcist, Rosemary's Baby, and The Omen. Although The Omen arrived last, opening on June 6, 1976, it arguably offers more excitement than its satanic brethren (which is not to say that it is a superior film). Likely to be considered a slow-burner by today's standards, the picture builds tension and unravels a mystery at a meticulous pace, but it's punctuated by elaborate, Rube Goldberg-ian death scenes.

The Omen spawned a trilogy of films, a made-for-television sequel, and a modern remake. Scream Factory has collected all five movies in The Omen Collection, which is limited to 10,000 units. Besting Fox's earlier Blu-ray set - which omitted Part IV and featured some of the worst box set packaging known to man - each film is packaged in an individual Blu-ray case with original artwork within a rigid slipcover case. It boasts a deluge of extras, new and old.

In the original film, American diplomat Robert Thorn (Gregory Peck, To Kill a Mockingbird) and his wife, Katherine (Lee Remick, Anatomy of a Murder), adopt a baby named Damien (Harvey Stephens) after their own child is stillborn. Beginning with his fifth birthday, a string of mysterious deaths surround Damien. Upon being presented with convincing evidence by a photographer (David Warner, Tron), Robert becomes convinced that his son is none other than the antichrist, and he is faced with the task of stopping him to prevent Armageddon.

Firing on all cylinders, The Omen is an exemplary horror film. Working from a well-constructed script by David Seltzer (Shining Through, Prophecy), director Richard Donner grounds the story firmly in reality. The fantastical elements are easy to swallow, as each and every incident in the plot could be mere coincidence. Peck brings a gravitas to the production, leading a strong cast in which Remick also holds her own. Even the six-year-old Stephens, who never acted before and did very little after, is convincingly malevolent.

John Richardson's (Aliens, Harry Potter) special effects for the proto-Final Destination deaths - including one of the greatest beheadings ever committed on celluloid - remain shocking after more than 40 years. Cinematographer Gilbert Taylor (Star Wars: A New Hope, Dr. Strangelove) captures it all with clean camerawork, while Jerry Goldsmith (Alien, Gremlins) provides a chilling orchestral score elevated to pure evil with choral chanting.

The Omen has been newly mastered in 4K from the original negative, approved by Donner, for the new release. The result is a pristine presentation with improved detail and color saturation over Fox’s previous high-definition transfer. The Omen carries a whopping four audio commentaries. One, featuring special project consultant Scott Michael Bosco, is new. His audio sounds compressed - as if it were recorded on a cell phone - but it's dense with details focusing on the theological aspects. Bosco often digresses, but I appreciate the fresh perspective rather than a historian reciting IMDb trivia.

The other audio commentaries include: a track with Donner and editor Stuart Baird (Lethal Weapon, Skyfall), in which the two old friends reminisce about the highs and lows of the production; a track with Donner and filmmaker Brian Helgeland (Mystic River, L.A. Confidential), which features as much good-natured joking as it does insight; and a track with film historians Lem Dobbs, Nick Redman, and Jeff Bond, largely focusing on Goldsmith's score. A lot of information is repeated across the commentaries, but the varying viewpoints make them all worth listening to.

Seltzer and actress Holly Palance (who plays the nanny whose suicide by hanging is among the film’s most memorable moment) sit down for new interviews. Seltzer's chat is particularly enjoyable, as he's candid and humble. He openly states that his script is not as good as the movie it birthed. He also shares what he would have done if he had the opportunity to write the sequel. Palance, the daughter of the great Jack Palance, recounts her naivety about working on her first film and shooting her iconic death scene. The final new extra is an appreciation of The Omen's score by composer Chris Young, who says he looked to Goldsmith's progression across The Omen trilogy as he was scoring the Hellraiser films. It's fascinating to hear one accomplished professional praise another in their field.

All of the archival extras are ported over: a thorough, 15-minute interview with Donner from 2008; 666: The Omen Revealed, a 46-minute retrospective from 2000 featuring crew members along with religious experts to provide context; The Omen Revelations, which is essentially a streamlined version of 666, recycling much of its footage in 24 minutes; Curse or Coincidence, in which the crew recounts a variety of curious incidents that nearly derailed the production; an introduction by Donner; a deleted scene with commentary by Donner; an older interview with Seltzer, which features a lot of the same information as the new one; and an interview with Goldsmith about his score. There's also an appreciation of The Omen by filmmaker Wes Craven (A Nightmare on Elm Street), in which the master of horror waxes poetic about the influential picture for 20 minutes; Trailers from Hell trailer commentary by filmmaker Larry Cohen (The Stuff), who cites The Omen as one of his favorite movies; the trailer; TV spots; radio spots; and four image galleries: stills, behind-the-scenes, posters and lobby cards, and publicity.

Following the massive success of the first film, Fox fast-tracked a sequel, Damien: Omen II, to open in 1978. Having narrowly survived the events of The Omen, a 12-year-old Damien (Jonathan Scott-Taylor) now lives with his affluent uncle, Richard Thorn (William Holden, Sunset Blvd.), aunt, Ann (Lee Grant, In the Heat of the Night), and cousin, Mark (Lucas Donat), in Chicago. Damien is ostensibly a well-adjusted kid, unaware of who - or what - he is, but those who cross him wind up dead in freak accidents.

Omen II's plotting mirrors that of the first film, but the mystery aspect that made the original so effective is gone. The viewer knows from the start that Damien is, in fact, the antichrist, so they're left waiting for the characters to catch up. The plot dedicates an inordinate amount of time to Thorn's business enterprises, which is only vaguely paid of in the next installment when Damien rises to power. On the bright side, there are several admirably inventive deaths in the tradition of the first, from a bird attack that would make Alfred Hitchcock jealous to a visceral elevator bisection to a harrowing scene of a man trapped in a pond under ice.

Since Donner had moved on to Superman and Seltzer was either uninterested or not asked (depending on the source) to pen the sequel, a new creative team was employed. Stanley Mann (Firestarter, Conan the Destroyer) and Mike Hodges (Get Carter, Flash Gordon) wrote the script, with the latter set to direct. Hodges only shot for a few days, during which he quickly fell behind schedule, before being swiftly replaced by Don Taylor (Escape from the Planet of the Apes). Goldsmith returns to score with a worthy successor, retaining the signature sound while expanding it to incorporate electronics.

Leo McKern is the only returning cast member, reprising his role as archaeologist Carl Bugenhagen in the prologue. Peck's formidable presence is sorely missed, but Holden - who, incidentally, turned down the lead role in The Omen - and Grant bring some prestige to the production. Scott-Taylor is a convincing surrogate for Stephens, but the child acting leaves a bit to be desired. It's offset by a supporting cast that includes Lance Henriksen (Aliens), Lew Ayres (All Quiet on the Western Front), Sylvia Sidney (Beetlejuice), Allan Arbus (M*A*S*H), and Meshach Taylor (Mannequin).

Damien: Omen II's Blu-ray disc features new interviews with Grant, who is proud of the sequel and shares a funny anecdote about discovering her first wrinkle while filming; Foxworth, who was able to get to know Holden, one of his heroes, on their daily commute; and actress Elizabeth Sheppard, who proudly discusses working with Holden as well as Vincent Price (on The Tomb of Ligeia). In a separate featurette, Sheppard narrates a gallery of her personal photos from the shoot, offering a behind-the-scenes look at the bird attack sequence.

Since Omen II's mythology has little biblical foundation, Bosco's new commentary features even more tenuous tangents, but it affords him the opportunity to discuss the franchise more subjectively. An archival commentary with producer Harvey Bernhard proves to be a bit more informative. The disc also includes a vintage making-of featurette consisting of clips, interviews, and footage from the set, along with the trailer, a TV spot, a radio spot, and a still gallery.

The Omen trilogy came to a conclusion in 1981 with Omen III: The Final Conflict - although it proved not to be final after all. As prophesied, Damien (Sam Neill, Jurassic Park), now 33 - the same age as Jesus when he was crucified - has risen to political power. Following the U.S. ambassador to Great Britain’s ghastly suicide, Damien is appointed the position, which was once held by his adoptive father. The only true foe for the antichrist is, naturally, Christ himself. Rather than bringing about the apocalypse, as the franchise had been driving toward since the beginning, Damien attempts to prevent the second coming in a sanctimonious conclusion to the story arc.

While no successor could top the original Omen, its first sequel smartly embraced the gratuitous death scenes. For the third installment, however, director Graham Baker (Alien Nation) made a conscious effort to avoid them. Instead, he delivers inept monks trying to assassinate Damien with the Seven Daggers of Megiddo, while the antichrist’s legion of apostles murder newborn males who are the potential Christ child. Andrew Birkin's (Perfume: The Story of a Murderer) script leans further into religiosity at the expensive of the horror elements while interjecting silly mythology akin to Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers.

Omen III: The Final Conflict's Blu-ray disc features new interviews with Baker, who takes a truly retrospective look back on the film, comparing the society of today to that of when it was produced; Birkin, who hadn't seen The Omen when he first met for the gig and wasn't particularly impressed when he finally watched it; and production assistant Jeanne Ferber, who explains how she was among those polled by Bernhard to help choose the lead, with Neill selected unanimously.

For his final commentary in the set, Bosco is back to pointing out the film's connections to scripture, leading to a lengthy tirade comparing Christianity and Judaism. An archival track with Baker has a few nuggets of information among extended gaps of silence, but most of his points are addressed more concisely in the new interview. Special features are rounded out by the trailer, TV spots, and a still gallery.

Although The Omen’s main storyline continued with two more book sequels, Fox opted to use the familiar title for a made-for-television movie on their budding network in 1991. Although dubbed Omen IV: The Awakening, the film largely serves as a remake of the original film but with a female antichrist. After numerous failed attempts to get pregnant, politician Gene York (Michael Woods) and his wife, Karen (Faye Grant, V), adopt an orphan girl. Seven years later, Delia (Asia Vieira, A Home at the End of the World) becomes increasingly violent and manipulative, leaving a trail of bodies in her wake.

Similar to Omen II's production troubles, Omen IV started with Jorge Montesi (Turbulence 3: Heavy Metal) in the director's chair, but he was fire mid-shoot and replaced by Dominique Othenin-Girard (Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers). Writer Brian Taggert (Poltergeist III) keeps the basic structure of Seltzer's original script intact, but the details of each beat are altered and the death scenes are subdued for TV. In addition to gender-swapping the creepy kid, it's the mother who is proactive this time around.

Despite maintaining the general outline of The Omen, the plot is harder to believe this time around, stretching the required suspension of disbelief to include psychics that can read auras. The most ludicrous plot point comes in the form of a shoehorned connection to The Omen mythology. This "twist" canonically positions Omen IV as a sequel rather than a thinly-veiled remake, but it feels more like a low-budget knockoff than an official installment in the franchise.

Omen IV: The Awakening doesn't have any audio commentaries, but its Blu-ray debut includes a new interview with Taggert, who breaks down several of the major choices made in the script. It also contains The Omen Legacy, a feature-length documentary on the franchise that aired on TV in 2001. Narrated by Jack Palance (City Slickers), it finds cast and crew members (including a couple of folks who don't appear in any other special features) and religious figures (the Church of Satan’s high priestess among them) discussing all four films while playing up the alleged curse. The trailer and a still gallery are also included.

Amidst the onslaught of horror remakes that dominated the early 2000s, Fox shrewdly capitalized with The Omen in 2006 - on 6/6/06, to be exact. Director John Moore (Max Payne) offers slick production value and an inspired cast, but it feels wholly unnecessary considering how closely it follows the original script. Seltzer is the only credited writer, but it's unclear if his 40-year-old script was simply polished off or if he was involved in re-writes, as there are some subtle changes to contemporize it. While it fails to bring anything new to the table, it’s a stronger effort than Omen IV.

Liev Schreiber (Scream) and Julia Stiles (10 Things I Hate About You) star as the Thorns. Talented as they are, they lack the chemistry of Peck and Remick. Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick is successfully creepy as the new Damien, while the role's originator, Harvey Stephens, makes a quick cameo. In a particularly motivated bit of stunt casting, Mia Farrow (Rosemary's Baby) plays the antichrist's new nanny. David Thewlis (Harry Potter) and Pete Postlethwaite (The Lost World: Jurassic Park) also have supporting roles.

The remake is the only Blu-ray in the set that doesn't offer any new special features. The existing extras cover a lot of ground, but it would’ve been interesting to hear the crew reflect back on it. Omenisms is a 37-minute documentary exploring the pressures of making a movie with a release date set in advance, even showing Moore losing his temper and yelling at a producer. It feels very of its time, with director Stephen French treating the piece like a hip art film, but it contains a lot of great material.

Moore, producer Glenn Williamson, and editor Dan Zimmermann participate in an audio commentary that's fairly informative but doesn't touch on many of the trials and tribulations showcased in Omenisms. There's also a featurette about Marco Beltrami (Scream) recording his score at the legendary Abbey Road Studio; Revelation 666, a cheesy TV special tracing the history, interpretation, and theories of 666; unrated, extended scenes, including a longer version of the ending; and theatrical trailers.

While The Exorcist remains the be-all and end-all of occult horror, The Omen franchise as a whole is more consistent. The first three Omen films comprise a cohesive trilogy, while Part IV and the remake each offer a fresh, if flawed, perspective on the material. Between the movies, commentaries, interviews, and featurettes, The Omen Collection contains over 30 hours of content, making it an unbelievable value and a must-have for any horror collector.

The Omen Collection is available now on Blu-ray via Scream Factory.

#the omen #gregory peck #damien: omen ii #omen iii: the final conflict #omen iv: the awakening #mia farrow #scream factory #dvd #gift #review #article #damien thorn #liev schreiber #julia stiles #lance henriksen #lee remick #william holden

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cameron-mckell · 7 years

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WIP guessing game: "There"

Well, I’ll give credit where it’s due; you picked a word I (apparently) like to use a lot. I also have a lot of works-in-progress, so this reply is rather long. Some of these sentences are from the same works, and on a couple occasions I added in a surrounding sentence for a little bit of context (I couldn’t help myself), and here we are.

Organizing this by fandom, so...

Miscellaneous (A.K.A. crossovers):

‘“Yeah, I know, but there has to be something we canhook into wirelessly; check for webcams, cellphones, anything. I needto know what's going on in there.”’

‘There were a couple ofrequests in reply, so Bruce headed for the door, coincidentally following Tonyout with the shield for repairs.’

‘Steve walked to theother end of the mat, casually stretching as he went, “Um... Well, obviously nolethal force, and no permanent damage, though I don't personally care ifthere's a little bruising, but I tend to heal up fast, so.” He shrugged, andTony had to look away to hide his smirk; yeah, that serum made pretty shortwork of bruising.’

‘Just as he was bending down to assess the damage, and if theycould save him if they got an emergency medical team up there (and stupid, whyhadn't Tony thought of that and called them already?), Tron suddenly came backto life. With a vengeance.

One moment, he was lying there, perfectly still (still as death),and the next, he was all movement; he rolled and struck out with his legs, in amove that looked more like break dancing than fighting, and swept Steve's legsout from under him. He didn't stop there, though, using the momentum of thesweep to pull on (and twist to an uncomfortable angle) Steve's leg with hishands, while his legs twisted up, incidentally smacking Steve in the stomach,before catching his neck in a pincer-like grip, a hair's breadth away from countlesslethal finishers that even Steve probably couldn't survive.’

‘And that's when henoticed the cracks; there was a collection of thin, fine cracks over Tron'schest, centering on where Steve had hit him – they transferred between armorand suit without a pause, which was only mildly strange, until Tony saw aparticularly ambitious one that ran up slightly onto Tron's neck.’

‘Flynn stood half infront of Tron, smiling for all that his hands were in fists at his sides, andyes, there was definite recognition in his eyes, but he didn't move from hisprotective position.’

‘I'd like to avoid doingeither of these things, as JARVIS is a beautiful system – though there is sometraffic congestion on the main pathways – and your programs are friendly, andonly fulfilling their functions, but so am I.”’

‘But, wait, yesterday Itried to get in during the meeting, and you were there, so how could you havebeen –”’

‘And there was Tron.’

‘If she didn't bathe, orchange her clothes it didn't matter; there was no one around to see her oldenough to voice an opinion on her appearance. Every time she forgot to eat justmeant fewer dishes were lying around, waiting to be cleaned up.’

‘Seemingly unaware of thesuddenly self-conscious squirming of the widow, he continued on about the manydifferent options there were when it came to grief counseling, some based inTerran medical practices, while others were completely alien.’

‘They stopped,thankfully, when the group counselor spoke up, one pair of eyes crinklingslightly with welcome, while the other pair widened with concern, “Alan? Isthere something we can help you with?”’

‘He hesitated a moment,glancing guiltily at his friend, before shaking his head, “I can't today; Ihave to pick Jet up in twenty minutes, and it'll take me fifteen to get therefrom here. I'm sorry.”’

‘Something in there musthave been a reference to an in-joke, because the other man cracked a weaksmile, and gently brushed off Alan's hand on his shoulder, “Yeah, okay.’

‘Everyone ignored it, andthe session resumed, as if there had been no interruption at all.’

‘“At first, I thought I'd got zapped into the future again,”Steve commented from out of the blue right behind him, and Holy Crap, howlong had Steve been standing there?

“Werethere flying cars?” Tony asked with a healthy dose of false cheerfulness,setting down his calipers so as to at least give Steve the appearance of havinghis full attention; to be fair, he had most of it, Tony just generally had ahard time of turning the rest of his brain off.‘

‘Were there no elevators or stairs in computer-world?’

‘There was just somany things – both more satisfying, and more productive – that he could bedoing with his time, instead of working on his phone to keep from nodding off,while a group of stuffy, greedy paper-pushers tried to gussy up their ownagendas and sell him on them.’

‘He'd been expecting twolarge contract negotiation teams – full of frosty men and women, dressed intheir corporate finest, carefully not-glaring at their not-quite businessrivals across the table, until they all turned at his not-so-fashionably lateentrance to not-glare at him then studiously ignore him, and he them, until nearthe end of the meeting, where he gave whatever-it-was the green or red light,and went back to doing important things – but there were only six people in theroom, including himself.’

‘There was a brown-hairedman standing by the window, facing out, hands clasped in the small of his back;the pose reminded Tony of one he'd caught Steve using every now and then,usually right before a mission.’

‘There was a steelinessin her spine that curbed most – but not all, that was probably impossible – ofhis inappropriate thoughts, but her expression was open and curious.’

‘He waved theconversation away, and was about to start in on another random topic or other –like what the deal was with all the motorcycle jackets – when there wassuddenly a stiletto heel threatening to crush his foot, and Pepper had takenover talking, “Please, don't mind Tony; he doesn't have much of a filterbetween his brain and mouth.’

‘There had been rumors ofa secret project that would change everything – Flynn alluded to it in some ofhis later presentations – but no one knew anything about it after he was gone,including Bradley, his best friend.’

‘A lot of advancementshave been made since then; there might not be a market for it anymore.” Or, inplain English 'We all know that there is some major emotional baggage with thisproject, are you wanting to do this for that reason, or is there an actualpoint, and possibly money to be made?' It was a little harsh, maybe, but if this was just somethingnostalgic to see through to the end without anything greater in mind, it wouldbe better for the company to refuse them, and use the space and power forbetter things – like the energy shielding project that was currently on arelatively low priority list for Tony to work on himself, because the potentialdestructive uses for the technology was rather high, and the company payoutswould be low, unless he could work out a safer design, and then there was theissue of –’

‘“There's also thesubject of your ethics policy, Mr. Stark.”’

‘His disciplinary profilewas nonexistent, not classified; there was simply nothing to put in it. Incontrast, there were very few notations of withheld information in hispsychological profile; Jim couldn't decide if this was a good thing or not.’

MCU:

‘Then there was Natasha, who was fine anyway.’

‘Tony took a moment toverify the contents of the clothing bundle – and yep, there was a sports bra inthere – and finally managed to look at Steve's face without automaticallyjerking his gaze away.’

‘There was the occasionalcultural misunderstanding – on both sides – but for the most part it waseasy to see that Thor had been raised to be a king, a diplomat.’

TRON:

‘“Who was it?” Alan asked after a moment, releasing the lockson his briefcase to pull out product mock-ups.

“Thepolice,” he replied, almost in a daze. He'd have to skip the meeting to headdown there...’

‘He currently shared the barred space with three Users – andwhy did they use bars of metal, when force-fields offered a more complete,stronger, and transparent divider? – though there was a fourth User pressed close against one of the wallsshared with a neighboring cell.’

‘Something inside of him tried to shudder away from that toucheven though he lacked the freedom to do so, heaving against a jagged void that shouldnot be there...’

‘The unwelcome touch slid away from his few operative sensors,and he watched as the hand moved in when there shouldn't be space for itto do so, then Clu spoke again, audio output glitching with a sort of chokedsound. “I will fix this.”’

‘There was a faint hintof wonder added in Clu's tone this time, accompanied by the quiet beeps andtones of some sort of interface.’

‘“You should have seenthe display on his output, Tron, there aren't values high enough to quantifyit; I calculated for sure he was going to need a cold boot, but then he –Tron?” Ram's running commentary terminated immediately upon registering thesudden distance in the other program's usually intensely focused inputs.’

‘“Finally,” he groaned, though his visual output was smiling.“I was about to calculate the probability of her fusing into the datascape,with how little activity there's been lately.”’

‘There was little more than the queues and empty space betweenthe monitor's station and the processing junction, so Ress spent the next sixmicrocycles either idling or advancing with the Kaze before her, until shefinally passed through the doorway to Processing.’

‘There wasn't much elsehe could do now but wait, so he cycled down to save energy – different fromstandby only by categorization technicality – and evaluated the gaping hole inhis render.’

‘He's still there,” shehastened to reassure Sam as the blood drained from his face, “but when I try tocommunicate with him, or access his data, I keep getting an 'unknown error'message.”’

Young Justice:

‘The drumming grew louder, Wally was almost vibrating withexcess energy, and Dick was almost there, when –’

‘He turned away from the map to look at everyone else, handson his hips triumphantly. “There, last three minutes. Minus the glares andgravity, and in much smaller words.”’

‘There was a startlingly large amount of calculationsthat went into running at superspeed – between changes in the evenness of theground, what it was made of, the relative friction of that surface, and itsstability, without taking into account mobile and stationary obstacles muchless combat – and Wally sometimes got caught up in those calculationsinstead of trusting the relatively-new instincts of a body inclined to movethat fast.’

‘“I wasn’t going to be the first one to say anything but yeesh, yeah – when was the last time youwashed that thing?” Artemis declared, waving one hand in front of her facewhile the other pinched her nose shut, and Robin was glad he’d forgotten todrop his cape in with the rest of his laundry since his and Batman’s adventurehunting Killer Croc a few days ago, and there was apparently enough sewer-smellclinging to the fabric to catch the attention of someone looking for it.’

‘He opened his mouth to explain –

… Maybethere was something wrong with him.

– and closedit again.’

‘He needed to prove thatthere wasn't anything wrong with him, not anymore.’

‘“And it's a real possibility, but I can't let it stop me.Because there are people out there depending on me, and, well... I've got tohelp them. You understand?”

There was along moment – even by normal standards – where nothing happened, then thatfiery hair tickled his chin in a nod.’

‘Their fears were different– there was little danger of him slipping into relative time even briefly, asslow as he was – but the principles were the same.’

‘Maybe when there were others around, he could take a break,but until then... he had to help.’

And that’s all, folks.

#Anonymous

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brokehorrorfan · 7 years

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Blu-ray Review: Solace

Anthony Hopkins is, of course, best known for his Academy Award-winning role as Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs, in which he portrays a serial killer who assists the FBI in catching another serial killer. The esteemed actor returns to familiar territory in Solace, playing a man with psychic abilities who helps the FBI track down a psychic serial killer.

While The Silence of the Lambs is quick to come to mind when watching Solace, it's not the main point of reference; that would be Seven. Although not discussed in any official publicity materials for the film, a little bit of research confirms that Solace was at one point conceived as a sequel to Seven. The idea was ultimately dropped, which is for the best; there's no way it could live up to David Fincher's masterpiece. It fares better, albeit still flawed, as a standalone film.

With no leads on a serial killer on the loose, FBI special agent Joe Merriwether (Jeffrey Dean Morgan, The Walking Dead) and his reluctant partner, Katherine Cowles (Abbie Cornish, Sucker Punch), call in John Clancy (Hopkins), an aging clairvoyant who has been living in isolation since the death of his daughter. Clancy utilizes his abilities at the crime scenes to determine that the murderer is also psychic. He's always a step ahead, taunting the FBI with riddles and a mysterious modus operandi.

Colin Farrell (Total Recall) plays the killer, which I wouldn't reveal if it weren't all over the marketing. He doesn't show up until more than an hour into the 101-minute film, despite prominent billing, but he makes his time count with several strong monologues in a short time. It's a treat to see him share the screen with Hopkins, who appears committed to the role despite not breaking any new ground.

Morgan is better suited for a role with more personality, like his turn as Negan on The Walking Dead or The Comedian in Watchmen. Even without much to sink his teeth into, he's serviceable as the straight-laced FBI agent. Both he and Cornish bring the necessary emotion to their respective roles. Cornish benefits from a good character arc; her scholarly background finds her at odds with Clancy initially, but she ultimately comes to rely on his abilities.

Director Afonso Poyart's (Two Rabbits) presents an inconsistent visual style. Some scenes are highly stylized, while others resemble a banal procedural TV show, complete with cinema vérité zooms. The prophetic visions that Hopkins' character experiences when he comes into physical contact with someone resemble an "artsy" student film. Poyart and cinematographer Brendan Galvin (Escape Plan) may have enjoyed playing with different techniques, but it lacks cohesion.

The script is written by Sean Bailey (producer of Tron: Legacy) and Ted Griffin (Ocean’s Eleven), with uncredited revisions by James Vanderbilt (Zodiac). Although the psychic elements are integral to the plot, the writers smartly keep them relatively grounded to prevent the proceedings from becoming silly. The script also benefits from a killer who poses an interesting moral dilemma, not unlike Saw.

Solace's planned major theatrical release was simply not in the cards due to circumstances unrelated to the film. It was produced by Warner Bros. in 2013, after which it sat on the shelf for over a year. It was then purchased by Relativity Media, who planned on releasing it in 2015 before going bankrupt. Lionsgate ultimately picked it up and gave it a limited theatrical and VOD release this past December.

Solace now arrives on Blu-ray and DVD. They feature an audio commentary by Poyart, who never mentions the Seven connection but does detail the mechanics behind the film, along with a making-of featurette. There are a couple of brief scenes in which the audio isn't pristine; it's perfectly listenable, but not what one expects from a polished film with a budget. It's entirely likely that, given the tumultuous post-production process, they lacked the resources for ADR.

Despite a strong cast, an intriguing premise, and a textured, electronic score composed by BT (The Fast and the Furious), Solace is too derivative for its own good. Even with clairvoyance added to the mix, the film fails to bring anything new to the psychological crime thriller space. This is most apparent in its attempt at a Seven-style, pulse-pounding ending, which isn't nearly as profound as it thinks it is.

Solace is available now on Blu-ray and DVD via Lionsgate.

#solace #anthony hopkins #colin farrell #jeffrey dean morgan #abbie cornish #review #article

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