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The Comedy of Terrors, a review by Danae Cassandra

The Comedy of Terrors
Year of Release: 1963
Directed By: Jacques Tourneur
Starring: Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff, Joyce Jameson, Basil Rathbone, Rhubarb
Genre: Horror, Comedy

Overview:
Four Masters of the Macabre star in this sinister and screamingly funny scare-fest! Waldo Trumbull (Vincent Price) is running his father-in-law's (Boris Karloff) funeral home business...straight into the ground! Hounded by his landlord (Basil Rathbone), Trumbull and his assistant (Peter Lorre) devise a way to make death pay: by increasing their customer base through murder and burying the secrets to their success...body by body!

My Thoughts:
This was a lot of fun.  Sure, it's silly, and there's some pretty broad slapstick here, but the script is witty and you've got such stars as Price, Lorre, Karloff and Rathbone.  They really work well together, especially Price and Lorre playing off each other.  Don't take it seriously, and just sit back and laugh.  My only criticism is that I wish they'd let up a bit on the annoying opera singing gag. 

Bechdel Test: Fail

Overall: 3/5

2015 Horror Movie Count: 3

(From Horror/Halloween Marathon 2015 on October 5th, 2015)

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, a review by Danae Cassandra

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Year of Release: 2012
Directed By: Peter Jackson
Starring: Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Ken Stott, Graham McTavish
Genre: Fantasy, Adventure, Action

Overview:
The first in a trilogy of films based on the enduring masterpiece The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey follows title character Bilbo Baggins, who - along with the Wizard Gandalf and 13 Dwarves, led by Thorin Oakenshield - is swept into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor from the fearsome Dragon Smaug. Their journey will take them into the Wild, through treacherous lands inhabited by Goblins, Orcs and deadly Wargs, as well as a mysterious and sinister figure known only as the Necromancer. Along the path, the unassuming Bilbo Baggins not only discovers depths of ingenuity and courage that surprise even himself, he also gains possession of a "precious" ring tied to the fate of all Middle-Earth in ways he cannot begin to imagine.

My Thoughts:
Am I the right person to review this film?  That may be a question that may puzzle us for some time.  I say that because I love Middle-Earth.  No, I LOVE Middle-Earth.  LOVE LOVE LOVE it.  A year hasn't gone by since I first read the books that I haven't re-read them.  My professor at UofL in a class on fantasy literature said I knew more about the books than he did.  My fellow geek co-workers turn to me when ephemera questions about something in Middle-Earth comes up (we got into Silmarillion happenings a few weeks back).  I'm such a Middle-Earth fan girl, I knew going in that I would enjoy this trilogy.

But neither this one, nor the second one, are as good as Jackson's The Lord of the Rings. 

Unexpected Journey is a fun movie.  It's full of action, adventure, humor, and if LotR wasn't there would probably be considered a better film.  But LotR is there, and it was a masterpiece.  It was spectacular.  And Unexpected Journey isn't, for all of Jackson's trying to live up to LotR. 

This is my third time seeing this film, however, and I'll watch it again when 5 Armies comes out for extended blu.

Let's enumerate the good first.  Martin Freeman does a really great Bilbo.  Richard Armitage is a great Thorin, even if his Thorin is very, very different from book-Thorin.  I think I could watch Ian McKellen do anything.  The scenery is spectacular, and you get a real feel for travelling through Middle-Earth.  The riddle sequence with Gollum was really well done, and might be my favorite scene in the film.

Still, especially this third time around, you get a feel for what is wrong with the film.  They should have kept the way they showed Bilbo find the ring in LotR.  It's a glaring change, and one that not only really wasn't needed, but jars.  In seeing the extended film for the first time this viewing, I really, really think they should have kept the sequence in Rivendell where Gandalf and Elrond are talking about a streak of madness in Thorin's family.  It's so obviously foreshadowing what's going to happen that leaving it out in the theatrical was a pretty obvious mistake.  The extra lines in the White Council scene I'd have kept too. On the other hand, some of it really did need to be cut - especially some other parts of the dwarves in Rivendell, like the bathing sequence, that make them seem extremely uncouth.  Yes, we get that dwarves and elves are different, and it's supposed to be funny, but all that bit did was make them the butt of a joke that wasn't funny but kinda cruel, IMO.  It also looks a lot more artificial than LotR sometimes, almost like a video game rather than a movie. 

Still, if this is the only way we get the explore more of Middle-Earth and spend more time there, then I'll take it.  I love Middle-Earth too much not to.  It's still a fun movie, a great ride, and vastly entertaining.  It's just not a masterpiece the way the original trilogy was, and that's a shame.

Bechdel Test: Fail

Overall: 4/5

(From Within My (Mom's) Lifetime Marathon on January 29th, 2015)

Tom's Buffy and Angel Marathon, a review by Tom

My short break from this marathon became two months. But now it can continue!

Season 2



Title: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season Two
Year: 1997
Rating: 15
Length: 932 Min.
Video: Full Frame 1.33:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital Surround, French: Dolby Digital Surround, Commentary: Dolby Digital Stereo
Subtitles: Dutch, English, French

Extras:
Commentary
Featurettes
Photo Gallery
Production Notes
Scene Access
Screenplays
Trailers



01. When She Was Bad (1997-09-15)
Writer: Joss Whedon (Created By), Joss Whedon (Writer)
Director: Joss Whedon
Cast: Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy Summers), Nicholas Brendon (Xander Harris), Alyson Hannigan (Willow Rosenberg), Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia Chase), David Boreanaz (Angel), Anthony Stewart Head (Giles), Kristine Sutherland (Joyce Summers), Robia La Morte (Jenny Calendar), Andrew J. Ferchland (The Anointed One), Dean Butler (Hank Summers), Brent Jennings (Absalom), Armin Shimerman (Principal Snyder), Tamara Brown (Tara)

In my opinion one of the weakest Buffy episodes. Highlight is the first scene with the almost kiss between Willow and Xander. Buffy behaves like a bitca without a real reason. So she feels down because of the Master. I can understand that she's depressed, but is that a reason for her behaviour in this episode? Sadly this trend continues in later seasons.

Rating:



02. Some Assembly Required (1997-09-22)
Writer: Joss Whedon (Created By), Ty King (Writer)
Director: Bruce Seth Green
Cast: Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy Summers), Nicholas Brendon (Xander Harris), Alyson Hannigan (Willow Rosenberg), Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia Chase), David Boreanaz (Angel), Anthony Stewart Head (Giles), Robia La Morte (Jenny Calendar), Angelo Spizirri (Chris Epps), Michael Bacall (Eric), Ingo Neuhaus (Daryl Epps), Melanie MacQueen (Mrs. Epps), Amanda Wilmshurst (Cheerleader)

Probably the low point of Buffy. After this episode the real fun begins. But this episode is just stupid.
The only good thing is Giles trying to ask out Jenny Calendar and their date later on.
Best line: (Angel to Buffy) "I saw fire and I thought you were here"

Rating:



(From Tom's Buffy and Angel Marathon on January 31st, 2009)