Friday, October 30, 2015

Halloween Films – Go To List For Chills and Thrills

First appeared on Blogcritics.

zombies Okay, it is the night before Halloween, and all through the house, many creatures are stirring, especially a living dead mouse. With apologies to Santa Claus, thus begins my favorite holiday of the year.

Besides all the scary costumes, the trick o’ treaters, and houses decorated better than 1313 Mockingbird Lane or the Bates Motel, many of us need to get into the spooky spirit by watching our favorite films for the holiday. 

Over the last 30 years I have managed to record (mostly on VCR) the films that are my go to ones for getting me into a ghastly frame of mind. While I have provided lists like these before, I find that I change my mind over time and add and subtract films along the way.

This is a very subjective list of my current horror favorites, and it wouldn’t feel like Halloween this year if I didn’t get a chance to view as many of these flicks as possible before the goblins, ghouls, and ghosts start their sinister shenanigans.  

10. Basket Case (1982)
Director: Frank Henenlotter
Starring: Kevin Van Heneteryck, Beverly Bonner, Robert Vogel 

A-Tisket, A-Tasket, I got my freak-a-zoid brother in a basket. Rather clueless country boy Duane comes to New York City with his surgically removed Siamese twin brother Belial wanting to get revenge on those who performed the operation (and inspiring laughter). Duane even describes his bro as a “squashed octopus.” While the acting and directing are sub-par, it is still the best worst film to get me in the mood for All Hallow’s Eve.

9. Halloween (1978)
Director: John Carpenter
Starring: Donald Pleasance, Jamie Lee Curtis

This definitive “slasher” film is one-of-a-kind (and much duplicated). Pleasance’s Dr. Loomis may be almost as frightening as killer Michael Myers (wearing signature white Halloween mask that looks something like William Shatner), and just as maniacal in his pursuit of the escaped patient who is determined on killing his sister Laurie (Curtis) and anyone and everyone who gets in his way. Curtis rightly earns her crown as Scream Queen in this one.

8. Halloween II (1981)
Director: Rick Rosenthal
Starring: Donald Pleasance, Jamie Lee Curtis

This follow-up to the original stands the test of time, and eerie scenes in an almost deserted hospital up the ante. All the action takes place on the same night as the first film, as Michael continues his quest for blood and Loomis his desire to finish the job (after shooting Michael six times in the first film to no avail). Curtis cements her regal reputation here, and we’re rooting for her all the way.

7. Scream (1996)
Director: Wes Craven
Starring: Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox

 Meant to be Craven’s homage to the genre Carpenter started, Scream is a tongue-in-cheek slasher film that establishes its own sub-species of blood and gore and laughs. Self-referential to the tenth degree, we get yet another signature mask that will endure in too many sequels and costume stores. The cold opening featuring Drew Barrymore as a doomed girl alone in the house is as scary as it is memorable.

MV5BNTg5NjkxMjUxNF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwNzk1NDc2MTE@._V1_SX214_AL_ 6. Dracula (1931)
Director: Tod Browning
Starring Bela Lugosi, Helen Chandler

When I first saw this film late at night on TV at 12 years old, I shivered me timbers. All these years later it still gives me goosebumps. Lugosi’s crazed eyes are enough to make your head spin, and the stark sets and eerie music all add to the mystique of the famous Count who admits to never drinking wine. Lugosi’s Dracula defines the film vampire – he gets to be the King of All Blood Suckers forevermore.

 5. Frankenstein (1931)
Director: James Whale
Starring: Colin Clive, Boris Karloff

Perhaps something was in the water in 1931, but whatever it was director James Whale no doubt imbibed. He creates a similar startling and frightening atmosphere in a different castle with a villain just as horrifying. Karloff’s monster sets the standard for screen creatures of the night, and Colin Clive has the right amount of madness as the less than good doctor whose drive for scientific discovery ends in disaster.

4. Young Frankenstein (1974)
Director: Mel Brooks
Starring: Gene Wilder,

Madeline Kahn Director Brooks provides his usual comedic gems while evoking the atmosphere of the original film. Wilder is simply brilliant as the mad young ancestor of the nutty old scientist, and an exceptional cast of characters brings zest to the proceedings (especially Peter Boyle as the creature who can tap dance like Fred Astaire). Can anyone say “Frau Blucher” without thinking about the frightened horses and laughing?

MV5BMjI1OTI1NDY0MV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwMjU2NzcyMjE@._V1._CR9.883331298828125,8.533340454101562,378,482_SY317_CR17,0,214,317_AL_3. Carnival of Souls (1962)

Director: Herk Harvey
Starring: Candace Hilligoss, Frances Feist

This is a positively spooky tale made on a beer budget but with champagne results. Mary Henry (Hilligoss) is a church organist who survives a car accident that kills her friends. After moving to a new town, Mary is haunted by a specter (Harvey) and is increasingly drawn to an abandoned carnival ground. What others fail to achieve with huge studio backing and big stars, Harvey accomplishes with unknown actors and stark sets. You won’t forget this one!






2. Dawn of the Dead (1978)

Director: George Romero
Starring: David Emge, Ken Foree

MV5BMjE1NzI5OTA1OF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMjg1MDUyMQ@@._V1_SY317_CR6,0,214,317_AL_Take the farmhouse of the original and make it a shopping mall, put all the blood and gore in living dead color, and up the ante with a much bigger budget for special effects, and you have Romero’s sequel to the original. There is something much less sinister in this film but no less devastating when characters we care about meet grisly deaths. The arrival of a biker gang that invades the mall is slam-bang ride toward a bloody but still much more hopeful ending than in the first film.

1. Night of the Living Dead (1968)

Director: George Romero
Starring: Duane Jones, Judith O’Dea

“Definitive” is an overused word when it comes to film, but the word more than applies here. Romero works with an unknown cast and, like Harvey, a basement budget, but all the snaps, crackles, and pops on the soundtrack only lend to the authenticity of this tale of people trapped in a farmhouse as flesh eating ghouls surround them. A few flashes of humor notwithstanding (such as the police chief describing the zombies “They’re dead; they’re all messed up.), this is a gruesome, gritty, and relentless black and white film with an honest but brutal ending. If you can see only one of the films on the list, this is it!

While this is my list, I am certain you have different ones that would make up a top-ten Halloween flick list. I am looking forward to seeing your lists in the comments section if you are willing to share them.

Photo credits: IMDb, wikipedia

Sunday, October 25, 2015

Boy: A Short Story

First appeared on Blogcritics.

boy2 I had never heard about my cousin Boy until Mom started crying in the kitchen as she read a letter. I’d been in the living room listening to Uncle Don on the radio and went to her and saw a picture on the table of a little boy about my age. “Who’s that, Mom?” 

“Your cousin.”

“What’s his name?”

“Boy,” Mom said wiping her eyes.

“That’s his name?” 

“Yes. He’s very sick and not getting any better.”

“What’s wrong with him?”

Mom sniffled. “When he was born the midwife dropped Boy on his head. He was baptized privately; no one was ever told his name.”

“That seems mean.”

“Well, there’s his sisters Velma and Emmy, and Uncle Jack said it would suffice that everyone in the family call his son ‘Boy.’”

Uncle Jack was my Dad’s brother, and I had only met him once when he came to the city for my grandmother’s funeral. When we went to the tenement on the Lower East Side, the coffin was in the kitchen next to the bathtub. Pop’s other brothers and sisters were there, laughing and drinking beer while their mother lay in that coffin.

I sat in the corner with my mother. “Why aren’t they sad, Mom?”

She hugged me against her. “I don’t know, Vinny.”

boy3 *

The first time I met Boy was when I was 9 years old. We drove up to Poughkeepsie for a visit, and I saw him standing in the garage holding the business end of a hammer, trying to bang a nail with the handle.

Uncle Jack took the hammer away, and said, “Boy, do you want to hurt yourself?”

Boy stared down at his Buster Brown shoes, his cheeks turning all red. I took a baseball from my pocket and asked, “Do you want to play catch?”

Uncle Jack pushed me away and Pop stepped in saying, “Hey!”

My uncle backed up like he was afraid of Pop. “Sorry, Dave.”

We went inside and had dinner, but Boy was sent to his room. Later as we sat on the porch my cousin Emmy told me that Boy always took his meals in his room. On the way home in the car Mom cried. Pop shook his head and said, “It’s a damn shame, but Boy won’t get better.”

*

I didn't see Boy again until we were teenagers, and he had grown tall and handsome but something seemed off in his eyes. He went to the local high school, apparently had some friends, but still Uncle Jack wouldn’t let him drive the car or get an afterschool job.

Boy was in the kitchen cooking a roast, mashing potatoes, and preparing a pie crust. I watched in awe as he worked. Aunt Alice put her hand on his shoulder and said, “Boy is a better cook than I am.” 

Boy now joined the family but was quiet during dinner. After the wonderful meal I followed him outside. We walked silently across the road and down a slope through woods toward the Hudson River.

boy4
We sat on the grass looking at the trees ablaze with autumn. “I‘m in my last year of high school; what about you, Boy?”

Boy looked up at me with a serious expression. “My name is Ernest.”

“I…I am sorry,” I said.

He turned and stared at the river. “I’m a senior too, but I’m not much for school.” 

“I guess it’s tough for you.” 

“No, not at all,” Ernest said. “I just don’t like school; the work is easy.”

“But I was told….”

He picked up a long branch and started snapping it. “I didn’t know my name until I went to school. Even after I learned to read and write, Dad treated me like a pet; never taught me to use tools or throw a ball.”

“I…I’m sorry.”

“Hey,” he turned and grabbed my arm, “I don’t blame Dad or anyone. The doctor came after the midwife dropped me, saying my brain was damaged and I’d never have a normal life.”

“Bastards!” I said, feeling anger I had never felt before.

Ernest let go of me and started snapping the branch again. “No, Mom and Dad just let fear get the best of them, but I can’t go on much longer.”

“What you gonna do?” I asked.

He stood up, brushed leaves off his pants, and pointed to the river. “Soon as I finish school, I’m going down there, get on a boat, and go somewhere else. That’s when I start my new life.”

“You have my address,” I said. “You can always come for a visit.”

“No offense,” Ernest said with a hand on my shoulder, “but your Dad is just like mine. They lived in that little apartment too long, slept with two other brothers in one bed, and nothing is ever going to change them.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

 *

In 1940 I had a job at the World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park and saw Ernest walking out of the Ford Pavilion wearing a fine suit. I ran over to him, and we shook hands. I asked, “What have you been doing?”

“I live in Manhattan now. I just opened a new restaurant.” He wrote the address on a piece of paper. “Please come down and be my guest.”

boy1“Really? That’s amazing!”

“Yeah, well I worked in a diner for a few years, and the owner treated me like a son. When he died I inherited the place and started making menu changes. It got successful; I opened a few more places, and business just boomed.” 

“Well, I guess all that cooking paid off.”

“You can say that,” Ernest laughed.

*

I took the subway into Manhattan to visit Ernest’s new eatery. When I turned the corner, I saw a large shimmering place with a big crowd inside and smiled upon reading the neon sign above the entrance.
I anticipated a great meal and went in to congratulate Ernest on the success of “Boy’s Restaurant.”


  Photo credits: rubylane.com, absolutepetsco.com, rubeenakp.com, hudsonvalleygoodstuff.com

Friday, October 23, 2015

Mets Are Going to World Series – New York is Becoming a Mets Town Again!

First appeared on Blogcritics.

mlbf_525285183_th_45This time there was no Adam Wainwright – no Carlos Beltran staring at a 3-2 curve ball called strike to end the 2006 National League Championship Series. Now it was actually Dexter Fowler of the Chicago Cubs who stared at the third strike from New York Mets closer Jeurys Familia, and the 2015 Mets were heading to the World Series.

Watching Familia fall to the grass in front of the pitcher’s mound, raising his hands to the sky and invoking a greater power, I started to shed a few tears. This is because his genuflecting to the baseball gods that have thus far shined on the team in 2015 basically summed up everything Mets fans have been feeling. After all, it has been a long wait for a Mets return to the games that matter most in Major League Baseball – the World Series!

It is difficult for fans in other cities in other states to ever understand the team and Met fan mentality; hey, sometimes it is difficult even for us. That is why emotionally it was problematic to have to face the Cubs – the only other team and set of fans who can feel and know what our pain is like. Still, we have 1969 and 1986, and they have been waiting over a century. Here in New York to be a Mets fan means to be the underdog, the unwanted little brother, the illegitimate Edmund from King Lear yearning to understand “why bastard” while the so-called legitimate brother Edgar (the Yankees) gets all the love.

As I always say, we Mets fans are born from losing. Our parents – the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants – left us and ran off to the other coast, but the blood and tears spilled into the sewers and got sent downstream, and eventually we rose from the depths of the Gowanus Canal, an orange and blue spawn of rejection.

Still, our parents left a legacy, and despite all the anger and tears, there was love of the Brooklyn Bums and the Giants, and they would be fans forever even though the teams left them all behind, but they stayed true because it was impossible to ever root for the most hated, vile, and despicable Yankees. So there was nothing, a bottomless void, until the first Met reared its orange and blue head in 1962 - followed by lots of other Mets who may not have been able to play the game very well but filled the fans hearts again with that love they had been missing since 1957.

In a few short years the late great Mets announcer Lindsay Nelson would call the players that made up the 1969 World Series team “a new breed of Mets,” but he could never imagine the 2015 team that went well beyond the scope of that. It is truly a feeling that this year's team evolved, rose from a the smoke and dust of a 52-50 start to finish 90-72 like a Phoenix, the intense flames starting not from combustion but from tears – those of Wilmer Flores, who thought he had been traded for Carlos Gomez.

webmets30s-5-webUp until July 30, 2015, Met fans had every good reason to believe that this was another “Wait until next year” season. But on this night, Flores showed heart and love, not just of the game but of the city where he played. Flores didn’t want to leave and was seen crying on the field, and in a fortuitous twist of fate, the trade for Gomez fell through, and from that moment on the clouds parted and the baseball gods started shining down on the Mets.

A few days before the Crying Game on July 30, the Mets obtained Juan Uribe and Kelly Johnson from the Atlanta Braves. This stoked the embers of hope in the fan base, and then we saw Flores getting all verklempt, and it did something to all of us – the management, the players, the fans, and the city. Even Yankees fans told me that they were moved by what happened with Flores (and usually to move a Yankee fan you need a bulldozer).

Perhaps because of Flores – or in spite of his meltdown – Mets GM Sandy Alderson pulled the trigger on the biggest trade of all – getting Yoenis Cespedes the next day from the Detroit Tigers without giving up any of our big young arms right at the trading deadline. To say Cespedes became the straw to stir the drink is underplaying his impact on the Mets – he became the high-speed blender that turned all the right ingredients into a magic Met run for the pennant.

nl-baseballSo we can talk about the young gun arms – Harvey, deGrom, Syndergard, Matz – and Familia the great closer. We can toast Cespedes, Lucas Duda, and Curtis Granderson, all of whom have made a significant impact, and we can even hoist Daniel Murphy on our shoulders for his outstanding playoff run. Most importantly, and even essentially, we have team captain David Wright, who keeps it all together and very real even in the wake of all this excitement.

Wright has been here too long, has suffered too many injuries, and weathered all the detritus of horrible seasons spent at old Shea Stadium and then Citi Field. He was on the bench that night when Beltran kept the bat on his shoulder as a third strike stopped the Mets from going to the 2006 World Series. He, like the team and fans, has learned hard from losing. That is why it is so satisfying now to see Wright on this team – the one he deserved to be on for so long.

I went to Modell’s – a sporting goods store here in the New York area – today and there was a frenzy of customers that I have not seen in years. People were buying up everything with “Mets” written on it. All the Murphy jerseys were gone, and just a few left of the other players when I got there.

mets-win-pennant-heading-world-seriesThe tide is turning and churning, making those still Gowanus Canal waters push the blue and orange upstream and all around the city now. New York is slowly becoming Mets country again, and it’s a long time coming. This is what we Mets fans have been hoping for and we don’t care about how many championships big brother across the river has under his belt, because they matter not at this time. I have seen a sea of orange and blue today in the streets, in the stores, in the restaurants, and East Side, West Side, all around the town – the Mets fans and the team colors can be seen here, there, and everywhere.

As we wait to see if we are facing the Kansas City Royals or the Toronto Blue Jays in the World Series, the Mets' story  becomes something that will be continued. For now, I walk around the streets and cannot stop smiling, just as I was doing when I saw Jamal, a sidewalk vendor I see every day.

He was wearing a blue Mets cap with orange logo. For the last two years he wore a Yankees cap daily, and we would have friendly discussions about our teams. Now he was wearing orange and blue and I asked him about it. He smiled that great big smile of his and said, “No more Yankees – Mets, Mets, Mets!!!” Maybe it is about all the Met-related T-shirts, hats, mugs, and jackets he is trying to sell, or perhaps it is about something else entirely.

I think Jamal has Mets fever – and from the looks of things it’s very infectious; orange and blue are spreading all around town, and there is no cure and nothing else to say except, “Let’s Go Mets!”

  Photo credits: nydaily news, mlb.com, webmets30s-5-web

Sunday, October 18, 2015

Hollywood Hypocrisy Concerning Gun Violence

First appeared on Blogcritics

r-hollywood-gun-violence-large570 Have you gone to a movie lately? Did you see at least one gun in it? I took my son to see Hotel Transylvania 2 recently, and there were no guns in the film (yet still plenty of cartoon violence), but we had to sit through about 15 minutes of trailers and we saw plenty of them. So even if you make a choice to go to a family oriented film, the possibilities of seeing gun violence and other associated violence is high.

I just read a story regarding actress Julianne Moore who is getting a group of celebrities together in an anti-gun violence organization known as Everytown Creative Council. Ms. Moore is an Oscar-winning actress who has appeared in many films, and seems earnest in this attempt to stop gun violence.
As actors, we are citizens first so we believe in the Constitution and the Second Amendment, but 92 percent of the people in the United States are in favor of background checks, too, so I don't feel like I'm in the minority. I definitely feel like I'm in the majority here.”
While this sounds reasonable enough, it should be noted that her group is connected to former New York City Mayor Michael A. Bloomberg’s Everytown for Gun Safety, which pushes for stricter gun control in America.

julianne-moore-gun-violenceWhile this all seems like a very worthy endeavor by Ms. Moore, it should be noted that she has appeared in films with guns aplenty (with Liam Neeson in Non-Stop for example), and many celebrities who promote stricter gun control have as well.

The inherent problem with all this is that Hollywood films have glamourized guns in countless films the way they used to make smoking look glamourous; unfortunately, those in charge of films and television have not decreased the scenes of gun violence the way they did when all signs pointed to smoking being dangerous for one’s health.

Doing a little research uncovers the fact that even after the Sandy Hook school shooting in 2013, gun violence in films increased steadily, especially in the industry’s most lucrative PG-13 films. This trend began in the early 1980s and violence in PG-13 films actually eclipsed R-rated films by 2013. 

Daniel Romer of the Annenberg Public Policy Center; (University of Pennsylvania) was part of a group researching movie violence. They researched films from 1950-2012 that finished in the top 30 of the domestic box office over that period, and their findings were startling – “violence in American films more than doubled over that time.” Romer says, “Violence sells. We recognize that, and the movie industry realizes that.”

So we understand that the box office is going to dictate what we see on screen, and kids are exposed to more and more of this beyond sitting in the theaters and watching television. Gun violence in video games is also rampant, and more and more titles are released every year. As long as these things have an audience it seems that they will be churned out.

I have long heard the argument – and I myself may have said it more than a few times – that I grew up watching violent cartoons, playing with toy guns, and watching violent movies, and I didn’t turn out to be a violent person or killer; however, as the research shows the violence in films has increased dramatically since then and the opportunities to see it – especially online – have been multiplied almost incalculably.

taken_2_liam_neeson_gun_taxi_a_lWe can commend Ms. Moore and all the celebrities that have joined her coalition to stop gun violence, but we should ask them to go one step further if they want to truly be successful in their mission. Every celebrity who wants to stop gun violence can do his or her part by taking one simple step – refuse to appear in any film, TV show, or video that has a gun in it.

Can we imagine the impact that kind of action would have on society? But wait, would any of these celebrities actually do this? Perhaps some would be brave enough to not care about the implications and come aboard, but their careers would probably be over. In the end there is just too much at stake for them to make this kind of stand, one of conscience and practicing what they preach. It is far easier to join a group, say you are against guns, and then show up for filming the next day and strap on the fake gun that stokes the imaginations of many people out there who cannot discern the difference between reality and fiction.

In terms of dealing with actual gun violence, the media continues to highlight the shooters after these horrific mass killings. They go hand-in-hand with a Hollywood that promotes and glamourizes the use of guns with seemingly little or no regulation of what they do. If the media stopped making these shooters into household names, if Hollywood banned the use of guns in movies and on TV, and the gaming industry removed all guns from its products, think of the impact that would have on America, specifically young people.

This would truly be a case of celebrities rising and doing something proactive; however, don’t hold your breath because the chances of this happening are about as good as the movie industry deciding to give an R rating to any movie with a gun in it. Guns in movies, on TV, and in video games are here to stay, and that means all the good intentions notwithstanding, Hollywood is not part of the solution but continues to be part of the problem.  

Photo credits: nydailynews, moviefone.com, 20th century fix, Columbia Pictures    

Monday, October 12, 2015

TV Review: The Walking Dead – “First Time Again”

First appeared on Blogcritics.

*This review contains spoilers.

walk1-ewWhile watching ”First Time Again,” the first episode of season six of AMC’s The Walking Dead, I couldn’t help but wonder where this series is going. There are the comics to offer some insights, but loyal readers will know that some of what happens in print never happens on the show. Still, in this episode there was such a sense of almost total hopelessness, and there is a problem with that – if the characters have nothing to strive for, no hope for things to get better, then how do they plan to keep the show from falling down an abyss from which it can never return?

The main issue in this show has always been survival at almost any cost – but now going into the sixth season the question is for what purpose? The arrival of Lennie James as Morgan has brought this into greater focus. Perhaps he is there as a moral compass, for surely Rick (Andrew Lincoln) has shaken off the coil of the sheriff’s job he once had, which in essence is like in an old western when the disgusted hero throws his badge into the dirt and walks off into the sunset, but there is no sense that Rick has changed anything for the better. Morgan calls Rick on this point. Morgan admits that they are all killers, but what else are they that has been lost?

walk3In this episode Rick and Morgan discover a quarry where thousands of walkers have been blocked in by tractor trailers (nod to George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead noted). Rick hatches a plan to herd the walkers, almost like cattle to the Rio Grande in some sense, to lead them far away from Alexandria as possible.

On a practice run with some of the weak and unprepared Alexandrians along for the ride, Rick and the gang scout the situation and then all hell breaks loose as the walkers begin escaping (just as Rick said they would). One voice of dissent is a guy named Carter (Ethan Embry), who no doubt is inserted in this episode to clarify how unready the Alexandrians are. Rick ignores his pleas about not being ready and goes ahead with the plan.

walk4Basically the plan involves Daryl (Norman Reedus), Sasha (Sonequa Martin-Green), and Abraham (Michael Cudlitz) driving ahead of the walkers to lead the herd way off into the wilderness. It works at first, and Rick seems to be right again.

At this point after the events that ended season 5, Rick appears to have been put in charge by Deanna (Tovah Feldshuh), after her husband is murdered and Rick executes his killer. Obviously, other Alexandrians aren’t okay with Rick Jung Un’s rule of thumb, but hell, Rick has been out there and knows what it takes to get through the day alive. 

Another aspect of this episode that provided a change of pace was the juxtaposition of black and white flashbacks with color sequences of the present. Show runner Scott M. Gimple and director Greg Nicotero have taken an old Hollywood trick and used it advantageously here. It works because the flashbacks show us the aftermath of the season five ending, while the present sequences bring us along with the walker cattle ride.

In the flashbacks we also see that Carter tries to start a mini-coup to unseat Rick (and basically kill him), but Rick happens in on the meeting and Carter is like a quivering bowl full of jelly faster than you can say “Shane.” When Rick points a gun at him and asks, “Do you know who I am?” it is like a Dirty Harry moment with Harry at his dirtiest.

walk2Towards the end of the episode, Carter makes the fatal red shirt mistake of running ahead of the crowd. Here he is grabbed by an unusually strong walker that starts sucking his face – literally – which is no way to start a relationship. Of course, the steady evidence of Alexandrians being unready is brought into light again, and Rick has no way to save him, so he dispatches Carter as Morgan and Michonne (Danai Gurira) look on less in shock and more like dismay. They know Rick couldn’t save Carter, but there is no bedside manner either – killing has become routine to Rick, whether it’s a zombie or another human being.

The very last sequence involves someone in the distance blasting a rather large horn. The noise stops the walkers from going in the right direction, and suddenly thousands of them make the turn and start heading through the woods – and straight toward Alexandria. Besides making Rick’s plan look pretty ill- conceived now, the bigger issue is that they are heading toward the people whom we know are not ready for their arrival.

Overall, this was a satisfying season premiere of TWD. It’s fast-paced nature and the thousands of zombies involved offer a sharp contrast to Fear the Walking Dead, which just ended its rather ho-hum first season run. I guess the big brother is showing the little one how it should be done. I only lasted two episodes of FTWD, but I have watched every episode of TWD and will be back next week.

My only concern is that problem with a lack of hope. We know the Army or Marines are never coming, but there has to be something – similar to the hope of a cure to stop the dead from coming back to life that Eugene (Josh McDermitt) once proclaimed but then revealed was a lie. Because even a lie that gave hope was better than no hope at all. That’s the sad truth in what has become of the world in TWD universe.

  Photo credits: AMC, ew.com

Saturday, October 10, 2015

Movie Review: Hotel Transylvania 2 – Not Too Spooky Fun For the Kids and You

First appeared on Blogcritics.

trans2 At 89 minutes, Hotel Transylvania 2 is a fast, fun, and smooth sequel to the original Hotel Transylvania; in fact, we are not talking Godfather II here, but it seems to be a tad better than the first film. 

The loveable monster gang is all back – Dracula (Adam Sandler), Frankenstein (Kevin James), werewolf Wayne (Steve Buscemi), Invisible Man (David Spade), and the rest of the ghouls and girls. This will surely delight all those ten years old and under, as my son and the other kids in the theater screamed and cheered at the appearance of each one and the crazy antics connected to the characters (Frankenstein devours plates loaded with food for example).

The film begins with preparations for the wedding of Drac’s daughter Mavis (Selena Gomez), who is marrying geeky human Jonathan (Andy Samberg). Jonathan has invited his family to come from California, and the interaction of humans and monsters is awkward but amusing.

trans1This is not the major conflict; however, it could have been if director Genndy Tartakovsky (who directed the original film) had been willing to take it there, but this is Sony Pictures Animation and the safe path is taken here. Instead, we move a year forward after the wedding and see Dracula delighted to learn that Mavis is pregnant, but then after the child is born he is worried that little Dennis (Asher Blinkoff) will not grow up to be a vampire. If he shows no tendencies before he turns five, Dennis will be fated to grow up human.

A sub-plot involves Mavis and Jonathan taking a trip to California, where Mavis is delighted by Slurpee machines and kids riding skateboards. She worries that back home in Transylvania there is not enough “normal” stuff going on, but a visit to Jonathan’s house shows his parents are weird as well but in different ways.

Back at the hotel Dracula and his crew take Dennis on a jaunt to all their old stomping grounds, hoping to shock the vampire out of the kid before his 5th birthday. Will various near disasters provoke the fangs to pop out in Dennis’s mouth before it is too late?

There is nothing here to concern parents, even with the PG rating (merely because of the scary images of the monsters which delight the kids considerably). It is actually an easier viewing than the first film, which my kids loved but I found slower moving. This sequel is definitely faster-paced and the 89 minutes went rather quickly.

trans3One nice little treat is a cameo by Mel Brooks as Vlad, Dracula’s father, who is not as lenient as he is in regards to humans. Drac’s biggest fear is what his father will do if he ever finds out that Mavis married Jonathan. When Brooks’s Vlad does come into the story, it truly enhances the proceedings.

Over all there is no reason not to take the kids to see this one. It is funny to hear the little in jokes that Sandler, Spade, James, and company make as they banter away; and, while the kids won’t pick up on this, it doesn’t matter. They will be having a not too spooky good time anyway and just in time for the Halloween season.


Photo credits: imdb.com, ew.com, youtube.com 

Friday, October 9, 2015

NY Mets and LA Dodgers – A Family Feud and Playoff War for the Ages

First appeared on Blogcritics.

dogers.librarythinkquest.org As the New York Mets and the Los Angeles Dodgers prepare to meet in the National League Division Series, there is a great deal of excitement and tension mounting. Even before pitchers Jason deGrom and Clayton Kershaw square off in tonight’s game one, there is the history linking the two teams to this moment, affecting the fans and players alike.


Make no mistake – this is a family feud between two foes that will make the Hatfields and McCoys battles look tame in comparison. The connections between the Dodgers and the Mets and their fans complicates the situation, with mixed loyalties colliding with the bitterness and anger of New Yorkers who still remember when their Brooklyn Dodgers left Ebbets Field behind forevermore.

I judge all things by old Manny, an acquaintance of mine from a local eatery who remembers and then some. Whenever I see Manny during the baseball season, he is completely decked out in Mets garb from head to toe. This is his daily attire with one exception – when the LA Dodgers come to town to play the Mets. Then old Manny is dressed in everything Dodger blue.

When he talks about it he says, “You can never understand.” Of course, he is correct, I wasn’t even born when the Dodgers packed up and went across country, but I do know something about it. My mother’s family were avid Dodgers fans (Mom and her siblings and cousins all were knot hole kids who would watch games through holes in the fence if they couldn’t gather enough money to get a ticket). They lived and breathed everything Dodgers, and the New York Giants were despised and the New York Yankees were hated.

105d1151691829-brooklyn-dodgers-1955-brooklyn-champ-flag-ebbets-2Manny speaks of 1955 breathlessly because as a 22 year-old-man he witnessed a moment of heaven on earth – the Dodgers, the Brooklyn Bums, actually defeated the damn Yankees. I have heard of the euphoria and mad celebration – my uncle told of drinking a toast in every bar in Brooklyn – because the Dodgers had finally managed to do what the fans dreamt of happening but never expected. As my grandfather said, “We slayed the dragon, and boy it felt good.

”Manny calls it “The glory time” and says that he teased anyone he knew was a Yankees fan. He still juts out his chest proudly and whispers, “We kicked their Yankee asses.” But then in the same breath a look of desperation overcomes him as he remembers how short-lived it all was. “When they left Brooklyn, they took a piece of my heart. Yet, despite that, when they come back I still want them to stay – forever.”

Ah, Manny, how I feel for you, but the Dodgers are ensconced in LA and are never returning. So today when I went in to get my coffee and roll, I was a bit shocked to see Manny wearing all Mets gear. I went up to him, pointed to his blue cap with the orange NY, and asked, “What’s going on?” 

Manny looked up from his coffee.  “This time we’re going to kick the Dodgers’s asses!”

As I left, I saw him reading the New York Post with a big smile on his face. If old Manny has come to terms with the Dodgers or not, there is one more reason to have hope for my Mets against the Dodgers – I never really thought they could beat them with old Manny rooting so hard for LA.

The Mets and Dodgers are from the same bloodline. The Mets blue comes right from the Brooklyn Dodgers’s veins, just as the orange came from the old NY Giants. With this parentage, the Mets were born already relegated to second class in a city where the Yankees ruled, yet the former Dodger and Giants fans (who couldn’t possibly see themselves becoming Yankee fans) waited and then jumped aboard the Mets’ bandwagon.

berthaFans like my Mom, grandfather, uncles, and cousins felt at home being Mets fans, especially since a number of old Dodgers like Gil Hodges and Roger Craig came in to wear the orange and blue. Even though those first years were difficult, the fans grew to love the Mets and NY Daily News cartoonist Bill Gallo created Basement Bertha, the ultimate Mets fan who epitomized the people who didn’t care if the Mets kept losing because they were lovable losers just like old Bertha.

Now we have two teams that have met in the postseason twice before – in 1988 and 2006. Any Mets fans old enough to recall ’88 will remember that Orel Hershiser seemed to pitch like every day and Kirk Gibson killed our chances. In 2006 the Mets swept three games, so in many ways this meeting in the 2015 NLDS is like the rubber game of the grudge match.

citi-ny daily newsSo as I watch the game tonight I will be thinking of the spirits of all my deceased relatives who once cheered at Ebbets Field and later at good old Shea and then some of them who lived to see Citi Field (which was built to resemble Ebbets Field). I will be thinking of the history – the legacy the Dodgers left behind, the spawning and growth of my Mets, and the battles fought between the Dodgers and Mets before.

Mostly I will be thinking of Old Manny. With him in the Mets’ corner, I don’t think the Dodgers stand a chance.

  Photo Credits: mixbook.com, ny daily news   

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Thousands of People Form Human Peace Sign Celebrating John Lennon’s 75th Birthday

First appeared on Blogcritics.

john1-pix11.com On Tuesday, October 6, 2015, the sight of thousands of human beings coming together to do something to stress the importance of peace was a powerful symbolic act; knowing that it was done in New York City’s Central Park to honor John Lennon and recognize what would have been his 75th birthday (October 9th) is an emotionally stunning and aesthetically beautiful achievement.


In this world that seems to constantly devolve away from any hopes for peace, it is encouraging to realize that people still believe in it and hope that it is possible. We are not so irreparably damaged by all the unrest in the world, no so inured to acts of violence that we refuse to believe in change and, most importantly, in the inherent good nature of most human beings.

If nothing else, this human peace sign shows that the cause of peace that John Lennon promoted during his lifetime is not only remembered but has stood the test of decades. Hard as it is to believe, John will be gone 35 years this December.

john 2-japantimesThis happening, orchestrated by Lennon’s widow Yoko Ono, reminds us all of two of John’s most powerful and enduring songs: “Give Peace a Chance” and “Imagine.” While some jaded individuals like to believe that those songs are no longer meaningful or have impact, just witnessing the throngs of people gathered in Central Park for the expressed purpose of creating a living symbol to commemorate the creator of those songs is proof enough that they still matter.

 Yoko explains the importance of this gathering:
Because he really worked hard on trying to make things better for people, you know, and so this is a very, very positive thing that's happened. I think it's very important to be doing it in New York City which we've never been here before and we New Yorkers have to really be activists and not just say things but do it. And we're doing it now.
Fittingly enough the crowd that made this huge living peace sign was comprised of people from all walks of life and many different age groups, including those who had not been born before Lennon, who became famous as a Beatle and afterwards called New York City his home, died in December 1980. This is another indication of Lennon’s legacy being more than secure for many years to come.

It is easy to become jaded in these difficult times in which we live, but this human peace sign should provide comfort and joy for people all over the world. Peace should not be a pipe dream, but something that can be achieved if the human race comes together to overcome differences and change the world. John sang about war being over if we want it to be. My only question is how can anyone not want it to be over when we are all witnesses to the horrors of wars in these decades since John was taken from us.

john-lennon-peaceJohn also sang about giving peace a chance, and thousands of people put that into action on one glorious day in New York City. Now it’s time for us all to look in the mirror and ask ourselves if we want peace and what we are going to do to make it so.

  Photo credits: pix11.com, japantimes, palmbeachk12.fl.us 

Saturday, October 3, 2015

Oregon School Shooting – The President and the Media Get It Wrong Again

First appeared on Blogcritics.

ore2-nydaily The most recent shooting causing mass casualties (nine innocent people dead and others wounded) at Umpqua Community College in Oregon is another example of the media getting it wrong. By publicizing the name, image, and life story of the shooter, it continues to be complicit in these horrific crimes that plague our nation.

There are people who understand – they realize that these killers are crazed lunatics seeking gratification and fame through violence. Witness Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin, who, when speaking to reporters about the incident said, “I will not name the shooter. I will not give him the credit he probably sought.” How refreshing to see this man take a stand and not fall into the trap that this calculating fiend prepared before embarking on his murderous rampage.

If you need convincing, please consider the words of the gunman himself, posted online to let the whole world know how he felt about another gunman, the one who took the lives of two reporters in Virginia:
I have noticed that so many people like him are all alone and unknown, yet when they spill a little blood, the whole world knows who they are. A man who was known by no one, is now known by everyone. His face splashed across every screen, his name across the lips of every person on the planet, all in the course of one day. Seems the more people you kill, the more you’re in the limelight. And I have to say, anyone who knew him could have seen this coming. People like him have nothing left to live for, and the only thing left to do is lash out at a society that has abandoned them.
These chilling words present a salient argument for the media to stop this kind of coverage. Every person responsible for broadcasting or reporting news should be compelled to read this message over and over again until it sinks in. The killer couldn’t make it any clearer if he put these words on a billboard and posted them in Times Square.

ore1-pressheraldUnfortunately, besides the seemingly witless media, President Barack Obama played right into the hands of the killer. By speaking out about the shootings almost immediately afterwards, Mr. Obama justified every word of the killer’s blog post – he had the President of the United States talking about him and his despicable deed. It is frightening to think about how many other wackos were out there watching this and thinking, “Hey, he’s got the POTUS talking about what he did!” How much more dubious glory could an unhinged mind hope to achieve?

Mr. Obama’s visible anger about these mass killings aside, the fact that he used the moment to promote gun control seems in poor taste and offensive. If I were one of those victim’s family members, the last thing I would want to hear is someone with a political agenda going on with no comforting words. Someone should tell Mr. Obama that thoughts and prayers are exactly what grieving people need to hear at such a painful time.

ore4-10tv.comThe stories after an incident such as this should focus on the victims and their families. It is absolutely essential that victims’ friends and loved ones speak about those lost, express their anger, and talk about the lives these people lived. The holding of candlelight vigils and any other associated activity that highlights these tragic losses are necessary and compelling events to broadcast and report.


The problem with publicizing what a killer has done comes down to a responsibility and sacred trust that both the media and the president have forgotten. By highlighting the exploits of this mass murderer you only beget more of them – just read the Oregon shooter’s words again to make it clear. Some people will say it is about guns and others will say it is about mental health, and those issues should be dealt with by experts in both those areas; however, it is abundantly clear that most psychopathic killers seek one thing more than anything else – they want notoriety, a legacy – and the media is handing that to them again and again on a silver platter.

ore3-libertarianrepublicBesides highlighting the lives of the victims, why not focus on a great story of heroism to come out of such a horrific occurrence? Chris Mintz, an Army veteran and student, who got shot seven times while attempting to stop the killer (probably saving many other lives), should have his picture on the front page of the newspapers, not the killer. Mintz’s heroism should be celebrated as much as possible, because this is the kind of person whom we can look up to as a role model for kids who have understandable fears after such an event. The lunatics can also see his story and worry a little bit that their plans may be thwarted if more people get the idea to fight back like Mintz. Fortunately, Mintz is recovering in a local hospital and lives to tell his story – hopefully again and again.

At this point there seems to be no hope that the media will ever get it right. The vast coverage of the killer’s story on broadcast TV, in print, and online is completely discouraging. Everyone who works in these arenas should be ashamed that they are complicit in forging the next assault. By making each killer famous after an incident like the one in Oregon, they are making certain that these mass shootings will happen again and again.

People need to speak out about this despicable celebration of killers in order to facilitate change. Complain to editors, to station managers, and to the reporters themselves who keep regurgitating the same kind of coverage each time that a tragedy like this happens. Let them hear your outrage and let them know that this has to stop. If it does not, there will always be another killer ready to emerge and get his moment in the spotlight that the media is only all too willing to provide.

  Photo credits: nydailynews, pressherald, 10tv.com, libetarianrepublic.com