Series and Movie Reviews, Movie Trailers and News, and New Books

Series/Movie Reviews and News

Squid Game
From the IMDB: Hundreds of cash-strapped players accept a strange invitation to compete in children's games. Inside, a tempting prize awaits with deadly high stakes. A survival game that has a whopping 45.6 billion-won prize at stake.
A South Korean series set in current time, Squid Game tells a very dystopian story.
The first season took many twists and turns I was not expecting, some of them actually pleasant.
It is very dark and extremely violent. Some of the games are tough to watch.
But what makes it engaging are the characters, especially the lead, Lee Jung-jae. They bring humanity to the cold-hearted games.
If you can handle the violence, I highly recommend it.

What We Do in the Shadows
From the IMDB: A look into the daily (or rather, nightly) lives of three vampires, who've lived together for over 100 years, on Staten Island.
Season three just dropped and it’s just as funny as ever.
Nadja, Laszlo, Nandor, and Colin, along with Guillermo, now promoted from servant to guardian, continue to bungle their way through situations with often hilarious results. Nandor and Nadja are now head of the Vampiric Counsel – of course taking turns and undoing each other’s work.
This might be the dumbest collection of vampires ever to hit the screen. It makes for a very silly and light-hearted show.
This series is based on the original movie and still written by creator Jemaine Clement. (He’s also an actor – look for him in the upcoming Avatar films.)
If you’ve never watched this mockumentary series, it’s a must – highly recommended!

News of the World
From the IMDB: A Civil War veteran agrees to deliver a girl, taken by the Kiowa people years ago, to her aunt and uncle, against her will. They travel hundreds of miles and face grave dangers as they search for a place that either can call home.
It’s a very simple and sometimes slow-paced story. The glue is the relationship between Hanks and Zengel. Two lost souls who need each other.
There are some intense action scenes, but it’s the bond between the two that carries the film.
Recommended!

DC Fandome debuted a teaser trailer and a teaser feature of Black Adam starring Dwayne Johnson, coming out next year:



And a teaser/trailer of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom:

Denis Villeneuve's Dune comes out in theaters October 22 – but it will release one day earlier on HBO Max!
Like all Warner Bros. releases this year, it will appear in theaters and on HBO Max simultaneously. This might hurt its theatrical release even as it pleases those who still don’t want to gather in a crowded theater.
I plan on seeing it in the theater and will probably watch it one or two more times on HBO Max.

New Books!

The Life and Times Of Color by HR Sinclair
This book is for people who love color, history, trivia, and superstitions. I’ve collected bits of information on color ideas around the world, added a color thesaurus, and color descriptors as well as places and things that are predominantly one color that a writer could drop into a scene if they’re looking for a pop of color. But this is not just for writers, it’s for everyone who’s fascinated with color.
Read more about the book here
Universal purchase links here

Write Well, featuring Rosemary Johnson
A handbook for Christian writers from the Association of Christian Writers.
Find it at their site

Long-time blogger friend, Katherine’s Corner, is hosting Autumn on a Tray this November 6. 

Visit her site for details.

Seen either series or the movie? Looking forward to the DC movies next year? Seeing Dune in the theater? Picking up either book?
Don’t forget – October 26 is RiffTrax: Live – Amityville Horror 4, live in theaters!
See you November 3 for the IWSG post.
Almost forgot - Books Forward is featuring the IWSG today and an interview with me about the group!

2021 Movies, Monster Movie Trivia, and Monster Music Trivia

2021 Movies

Here are some of the big movies coming out this year, most of which were delayed from last year. (Information from the IMDB.) We kick it off with a monster film I’m very excited to see after the recent trailers:

March 31
Godzilla vs. Kong
The epic next chapter in the cinematic Monsterverse pits two of the greatest icons in motion picture history against one another - the fearsome Godzilla and the mighty Kong - with humanity caught in the balance.
Director: Adam Wingard
Stars: Alexander Skarsgård, Millie Bobby Brown, Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry
Coming out on HBO Max same day.

May 7
Black Widow
A film about Natasha Romanoff in her quests between the films Civil War and Infinity War.
Director: Cate Shortland
Stars: Scarlett Johansson, Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Rachel Weisz

May 28
F9
Cypher enlists the help of Jakob, Dom's younger brother to take revenge on Dom and his team.
Director: Justin Lin
Stars: Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Martyn Ford, Charlize Theron

July 2
Maverick
After more than thirty years of service as one of the Navy's top aviators, Pete Mitchell is where he belongs, pushing the envelope as a courageous test pilot and dodging the advancement in rank that would ground him.
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Stars: Tom Cruise, Jennifer Connelly, Miles Teller, Jean Louisa Kelly

Minions: The Rise of Gru
The untold story of one twelve-year-old's dream to become the world's greatest supervillain.
Directors: Kyle Balda | Brad Ableson | Jonathan del Val
Stars: Julie Andrews, Steve Carell, Lucy Lawless, Michelle Yeoh

July 30
Jungle Cruise
Based on Disneyland's theme park ride where a small riverboat takes a group of travelers through a jungle filled with dangerous animals and reptiles but with a supernatural element.
Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
Stars: Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Jesse Plemons, Edgar Ramírez

September 17
A Quiet Place Part Two
Following the events at home, the Abbott family now face the terrors of the outside world. Forced to venture into the unknown, they realize the creatures that hunt by sound are not the only threats lurking beyond the sand path.
Director: John Krasinski
Stars: Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, Cillian Murphy, Noah Jupe

October 1
Dune
Feature adaptation of Frank Herbert's science fiction novel, about the son of a noble family entrusted with the protection of the most valuable asset and most vital element in the galaxy.
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Stars: Zendaya, Timothée Chalamet, Josh Brolin, Rebecca Ferguson

October 7
No Time to Die
James Bond has left active service. His peace is short-lived when Felix Leiter, an old friend from the CIA, turns up asking for help, leading Bond onto the trail of a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology.
Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga
Stars: Daniel Craig, Ana de Armas, Rami Malek, Ralph Fiennes

Movie Trivia

Monster movies! Continuing with the theme. Guess the title from the tagline and year.


The ultimate in alien terror - 1982
At last, the night has a hero – 1990
You'll never know what bit you – 1999
Cute. Clever. Mischievous. Intelligent. Dangerous. – 1984
2 Terrifying. 2 Frightening. 2 Much! – 1987
Some Thing Has Found Us – 2008
In darkness, there can be light. In misery, there can be beauty. In death, there can be life... – 2006
They say there’s nothing new under the sun. But under the ground… - 1990

Music Trivia

More monsters! Name the musical artist from the song title and year.

Feed My Frankenstein – 1992
Bark at the Moon – 1982
Godzilla – 1977
Dream Warriors – 1989
The Thing That Should Not Be – 1986
Circle of the Cysquatch - 2006
Nightcrawler – 1990
Living Dead Girl – 1998

What delayed movies are you excited to see? (Yes, I will see Godzilla vs. Kong both in the theater and at home.) Know any of the movie trivia? How about the music trivia?
Next post will be March 3 for IWSG day – and I have some great news I’ve been sitting on!

Ayreon Universe, Judas Priest Firepower, Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge, Animated Movie Trivia, New Releases, and More!

Some music, movies, and books news and reviews for you today - plus a little movie trivia! And today I'm at the IWSG site with an article on lessons I learned from really bad movies.

Music

Ayreon - Universe

Ayreon Universe is Ayreon live in concert for the first time ever, organized and arranged by Arjen A. Lucassen and Joost van den Broek. The Ayreon Universe set list features selected songs from all Ayreon albums plus a selection of Star One songs.

Vocalists include Floor Jansen – Nightwish, Damian Wilson – Threshold, Hansi Kürsch - Blind Guardian, Tommy Karevik – Kamelot, Anneke van Giersbergen - The Gentle Storm, Marco Hietala – Nightwish, Jonas Renkse – Katatonia, Mike Mills – Toehider, Marcela Bovio - Stream of Passion, Robert Soeterboek - Star One, John Jaycee Cuijpers - Praying Mantis, Edward Reekers – Kayak, Maggy Luyten – Nightmare, Lisette van den Berg - Scarlet Stories, and Jay van Feggelen and Irene Jansen - Ayreon

This concert is available in many different boxed sets (audio, video, t-shirts, signed, etc.) and comes out on March 30. I will definitely be picking up the pack with all of the CDs, DVDs, and Blu-Rays!

And just to whet your appetite:

Judas Priest – Firepower review

The metal gods are back with their umpteenth latest album!
First of all, it’s so refreshing to see people rocking out who are much older than me.
Secondly, don’t think these are a bunch of has-beens churning out crap for a quick buck. One thing I’ve always admired about this band is that they put their heart into doing the best they can. They are absolutely a fan-centered band.
I’m pleased to report this is an excellent album. It’s probably their best since Painkiller. While there isn’t a signature track, every song is solid without a dud in the bunch.
If you’re a fan of the band or old-school metal, you won’t be disappointed. Halford’s vocals sound amazing and relatively young Richie Faulkner tears it up on the guitar.
Highly recommended!

Movies

Some news from JoBlo:

Aerial footage of the Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge theme park.

The latest addition to the Disney theme park arena is the upcoming Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge attraction, which will allow visitors to immerse themselves in the world of Star Wars. The park is still under construction and won’t be open until 2019, but you can take a look at the foundations and sheer scope of the park in this new video released by Disney. Here, there is some aerial drone footage of the park, showing off the massive soon-to-be-completed structures.

Watch Tommy Wiseau (from The Room) get inserted into a bunch of disaster movies.

The video posted by Screen Junkies arrives just a few days before THE DISASTER ARTIST, a film based on Wiseau's unique experiences while making "the Citizen Kane of bad movies," THE ROOM, makes its Blu-Ray and DVD debut. When making the parody video, Screen Junkies invited Wiseau to stand in front of a green screen while reacting to each of the films selected. Once Tommy was done being Tommy, the outlet cut it all together to hilarious effect.

Denis Villeneuve plans to remake Dune.

Over the years, Frank Herbert's "Dune" has proven to be a notoriously difficult project to adapt. As the novel is quite dense, it's been almost impossible to whittle down the story in order to get it to fit into a single film, but it seems that Denis Villeneuve may have found a way around that. The BLADE RUNNER 2049 director will be the next to tackle DUNE, and he offered a quick update (via The Playlist) while speaking to a packed house in Montreal’s Place des Arts’ Théâtre Maisonneuve for the Rendez-Vous du Cinema Quebecois this week.
Dune will probably take two years to make. The goal is to make two films, maybe more.

Books

Available March 15 –

Blue Sludge Blues by Shannon Lawrence
A collection of frights, from the psychological to the monstrous. These tales are a reminder of how much we have to fear…
Find it at Amazon, Amazon UK, Barnes and Noble, and Kobo

Last Call by Tara Watson
Newly-single attorney Gwen Cooper’s list of things that make her happy is pretty simple:
1. her teenage sons
2. her stilettos
3. finally taking control of her own life
Find it on Amazon




Available March 16 –

The Thick of Things by J.L. Campbell
When love takes you by storm, hang on for the ride of your life.
Find it on Amazon

https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/2021/07/how-it-started-how-its-going.html

Computer Animated Movie Trivia

Since Coco just came out on DVD, let’s do a little movie trivia on computer animated films. Name the movie from the actors and year.

1 – Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, 2002
2 – Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, 2012
3 - Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, John Lithgow, 2001
4 - Johnny Depp, Isla Fisher, Abigail Breslin, Ned Beatty, 2011
5 - Woody Allen, Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman, Sylvester Stallone, 1998
6 - Patton Oswalt, Brad Garrett, Ian Holm, Lou Romano, 2007
7 - Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Idris Elba, Jenny Slate, 2016
8 – Bruce Willis, Gary Shandling, Steve Carell, William Shatner, 2006

Answers on March 26!

Impressed by the Ayeron concert footage? Fan of Judas Priest? Ready to explore the new area of Star Wars at Disney World? Think Dune needs another remake? Picking up any new books this week? And can you guess the trivia?

I will be visiting family the third full week of March and won’t be online. However, I will have a really unique post March 19 at the IWSG site on lessons learned from really bad movies.