I don’t usually review comedies, especially straight forward romance/family ones like HAPPIEST SEASON, nor do I plan to do it often. But I thought this was a pretty good one and I decided to give it a shot. Sharpen my skills.
HAPPIEST SEASON is new on Hulu and takes place at Christmas time, but is not specifically about any holiday celebrations. It has received some attention as a high profile romantic comedy with a same sex couple, and of a much higher quality than the ones starting to pop up on Hallmark and Lifetime. Sony/TriStar had actually intended this for a major theatrical release before the pandemic and its supporters fucked up the country. It was directed and co-written by Clea DuVall, who we of course know as an actress from GHOSTS OF MARS, THE GRUDGE, ZODIAC, etc., so it’s a pretty good in-joke when a character’s teenage bedroom is still decorated with a sexy poster of Josh Hartnett (THE FACULTY). (read the rest of this shit…)
ARGO is based on an amazing true story, recently declassified and told in this great Wired article. During the Iran hostage crisis, it turns out, the CIA managed to rescue a group of stranded American workers using an unusual cover story: they were part of a Canadian film crew scouting exotic locations for a STAR WARS inspired sci-fi fantasy epic. John Chambers, the genius makeup artist behind the PLANET OF APES series (and played by John Goodman here), had done “some contract work” for the CIA according to the article (let’s hope he gets a whole series of MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE style thrillers) and helped to set up real Hollywood producers and offices for the fake movie. The now-worshipped-by-nerds comic book artist Jack Kirby (seen only in a cameo here, played by DEATH WISH V’s Michael Parks) provided the artwork that they used as pre-production set and costume designs. (read the rest of this shit…)
One thing about JOHN CARPENTER’S GHOSTS OF MARS: it’s definitely John Carpenter’s GHOSTS OF MARS.
It has plenty of elements that could be perfect for one of his movies. It’s kind of a siege movie like ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13, although the simplicity of that type of setup is mired in flashbacks and narration. It’s got a western motif – even though it’s in the future and on Mars there’s a train, and colonists possessed by angry Martian spirits take the place of the Natives defending their land. It’s got a ready-made anti-hero – Ice Cube as the bad-but-not-guilty-of-the-specific-crime-he’s-accused-of prisoner-in-transfer Desolation Williams. It has a pretty good soundtrack where Carpenter melds his style with a bunch of rock n roll dudes with electric guitars and drums, playing Martian tribal rock. It has Ice Cube, Jason Statham, Joanna Cassidy and Pam Grier in the cast! This shit should be great. (read the rest of this shit…)
Some of you will wonder why I choose to watch this kind of crap. The answer is because of the French.
This one is from a series of movies made for cable called Creature Features. They have special effecting by Stan Winston (director of A GNOME NAMED GNORM) and are all based on the premises or titles of old movies produced by Samuel Z. Arkoff. They got SHE-MONSTER, DAN AYCKROYD VS. SPIDERMAN and many others. The one I’m waiting for is actually TEENAGE CAVEMAN directed by Larry Clark, the pervert who did KIDS and BULLY and ANOTHER DAY IN PARADISE where the main kid wears his pants so low you can see his fuckin pubes. Jesus, Larry! (read the rest of this shit…)
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Recent commentary and jibber-jabber
CJ Holden on Elvis: “Elvis doing WHOLE LOTTA ROSIE, you say? [visual-parse url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUim_PHAS-A”]” Jul 7, 04:55
Borg9 on Elvis: “I’m surprised to discover I have opinions on this. Sometimes it Snows in April would’ve been perfect. If we’re gonna…” Jul 7, 03:35
jojo on Elvis: “This is complete heresy, but allegedly Elvis was real into “Whole Lotta Rosie” and wanted to do a cover in…” Jul 7, 02:43
Kaplan on Sunset: “Well, I got it finished. 55,000 words. Whew!” Jul 7, 01:47
CJ Holden on Elvis: “Of course the embed isn’t working. [visual-parse url=”https://youtu.be/flu9RzlNKr4″]” Jul 7, 00:45
CJ Holden on Elvis: “Of course I can’t speak for the REAL King, but in the late 90s/early 00s was an Elvis impersonator releasing…” Jul 7, 00:43
VERN on Elvis: “RRA – I’ve been thinking about your question of what songs Elvis could’ve covered had he lived, and of course…” Jul 7, 00:30
Ben C. on The Princess: “This is a lot of fun. It gets right into it and barely slows down til the very satisfying conclusion.…” Jul 6, 22:07
Dtroyt on The Princess: “Well. I feel dumb. Even after reading the review I was thinking this was a Netflix joint, not a Hulu…” Jul 6, 19:01
Kaplan on The Princess: “I’ve been waiting to see your opinion on this, Vern. It’s been getting pretty bad marks from most of the…” Jul 6, 18:28
VERN on The Princess: “Yeah, I actually thought her outfit during some of the training flashbacks might’ve been an homage to Xena. They force…” Jul 6, 17:39
Stu on The Princess: “Just watched it and thought it was terrific. Love how direct it is in getting to the marathon of fight…” Jul 6, 17:15
Felix on The Princess: “I saw this on Disney+ last night. (Funny thing about Disney+ Asia, it’s basically Hulu). It has decent action but…” Jul 6, 15:09
MaggieMayPie on The Princess: “Huh. This was an automatic pass for me just based on the “poster” I saw popping up on Hulu. I…” Jul 6, 14:43
Franchise Fred on The Princess: “I liked it too. I suppose at this point this was produced with the intention of going to Hulu, unlike…” Jul 6, 13:30
VERN’S “I RECOMMEND THE SHIT OUT OF THIS PRODUCT” CORNER:
I don’t usually review comedies, especially straight forward romance/family ones like HAPPIEST SEASON, nor do I plan to do it often. But I thought this was a pretty good one and I decided to give it a shot. Sharpen my skills.
ARGO is based on an amazing true story, recently declassified and told in 
One thing about JOHN CARPENTER’S GHOSTS OF MARS: it’s definitely John Carpenter’s GHOSTS OF MARS.
Some of you will wonder why I choose to watch this kind of crap. The answer is because of the French.
