Reviews – It, RiffTrax: Live–Five Doctors, The Defenders; Movie News and Remakes; and IWSG News

Movie and Show Reviews

It
Based on the Stephen King novel, which I’ve never read, this version is far superior to the TV miniseries.
It also became the highest weekend gross ever for a horror film and the second highest weekend gross for an R rated filme behind Deadpool.
It’s less a horror film than a drama. It has some creepy elements and a bit of gore, but it’s not really scary. While Pennywise might be snatching people and kids from the town, the real horror comes from what the kids face in their day-to-day lives.
Ultimately, the strength in the story lies with the kids. It’s a lot like Stand By Me. The interactions of the kids and how they deal with their problems is the heart of the story. (And you’ll feel like you had a really normal childhood compared to what they go through.) Kudos to the director for casting normal-looking kids and guiding them to respond like kids their age would.
You’ll also recognize Finn Wolfhard, who was the main kid in Stranger Things. Plus Jaeden Lieberher, who was the kid in Midnight Special, and Wyatt Oleff, who played young Peter Quill in Guardians of the Galaxy.
Overall, it’s an excellent film and very well done.
Highly recommended.

RiffTrax: Live – The Five Doctors
Broadcast mid-August, the RiffTrax guys took on a Doctor Who classic.
Sadly, the film hasn’t aged well. Production values look 60’s, not 80’s.
There was a lot to riff. From the outlandish egg costumes to the woman slipping down a ten degree incline and having to be pulled out with a rope. Plus one of the doctors was in the film a whole five minutes. Maybe. A lot of it didn’t make sense, but that only added to the riffing fodder.
A friend who’s a big Doctor Who fan thought it was hilarious, so RiffTrax didn’t ruin it forever for the fans.
They did make it highly entertaining for the rest of us though!
Highly recommended.

The Defenders
Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist team up to take on The Hand.
This is a tough one to review. Parts of it are wildly successful while other parts are a muddy mess. The first few episodes are slow going (think glacial) but give you just enough to carry forward. The middle episodes are the strongest and allow the dysfunctional team to shine.
The ending is truly a head scratcher. It didn’t make sense to me, and from reading other reviews, I’m not alone in that sentiment. I won’t give away the plot (or what I understood of it) but suffice it to say, if you liked Daredevil you might enjoy this crazy mess. The cast is game and Sigourney Weaver plays an imposing villain (even if I didn’t understand her nefarious plan.)
It’s better than the Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, and Iron Fist stand-alone series, but it could have been so much more.

Movie News

Chris Pine will start as Robert the Bruce in Outlaw King.
From JoBlo:
…the historical figure has a rich and exciting history worthy of his own movie. He’s now getting that film – OUTLAW KING – courtesy of HELL OR HIGH WATER director David Mackenzie with Chris Pine starring as the legendary Scotsman.
It’s currently filming in Scotland and set for a 2018 release.

Also from JoBlo, director Colin Trevorrow was fired from Star Wars: Episode IX. Visit the site to get the scoop on what went wrong.

In an interview with Seth MacFarlane, he discusses the new series The Orville and how he wants to reclaim science fiction. Read about what looks like a really great new show on Blastr.

Movie remakes – we’re getting them whether we want them or not! Here are some scheduled and proposed upcoming movie remakes:
Suspira – with Tilda Swinton, 2018 release - but will Goblin be doing the soundtrack? That’s really what made the first film so damn creepy.
Tomb Raider – with Alicia Vikander, 2018 release - Angelina Jolie too old already?
A Star is Born – with Bradley Cooper, 2018 release - because the special effects will be so much better now!
An American Werewolf in London – plot twist: the lead is a woman!
Pet Sematary – like the first one wasn’t crappy enough…
WarGames – only if they nuke North Korea.

Insecure Writer's Support Group

Another great IWSG post day! Big thanks to everyone, especially my co-hosts.

A couple things we noted:

Be sure when you leave a comment, your profile leads back to your blog! If it links to Google+, make sure you have your blog listed in your ‘About’ section. We encountered a lot of comments that we could not return because that person’s gravatar was not linked to a blog. And since some people comment with a name but it’s their blog name on the IWSG list, that makes it extra challenging.
And remember, if you’d like your link title modified or changed on the IWSG list, we have set up a IWSG Google Document where you can request that change!

Visit others and return comments. (And turn comments on – it’s a requirement!) I saw many IWSG posts with almost no comments. That’s either from no one visiting, the blog owner posting without commenting, or a combination. The point is support and encouragement, so get out there and be sociable.

The annual IWSG Anthology Contest is now open!
Genre: Mystery/Crime/Thriller
Theme: Tick Tock. We have an awesome panel of judges this year and the winning entries will be published in a royalty-paying anthology.
See the IWSG Anthology Contest post for details.

Plus the Show Your Writer Insecurity Contest is October 4, so get those photos ready.

Giveaway

The Kindle Book Review’s September Author Meet & Greet Giveaway is open until the end of the month. Dragon of the Stars is one of the Featured books and you could win the “Ultimate Reader Gift Basket” ~ A 7″ Kindle Fire HD, a $25 Amazon gift card, and a bottle of wine.

Anyone else see It? How about RiffTrax? (Next live show in October – the original Night of the Living Dead.) Going to watch The Orville? Can people find your blog by clicking on your gravatar? Entering either IWSG contest? And what movie remake are you dreading?

RiffTrax and Worst Movies Ever – Plus The Five Doctors; Box Office and Movie News, #IWSG News, Contests, and Member in Need; and WEP

RiffTrax – Worst Movie Ever

For years, Manos: Hands of Fate was considered one of the worst films ever made. Plan Nine from Outer Space also vied for that title. Both were attacked by RiffTrax with hilarious results.

However, RiffTrax has recently tackled a couple films that just might be worse than either of those movies.

R.O.T.O.R.
Made in the 80’s as a Robocop ripoff, this film wallows in its cheapness and lack of cohesive plot. You really feel sorry for everyone who saw or rented this film, thinking they were getting something cool. Half the props look like cardboard. Plus ROTOR can see into the past with Sensor Recall. What?! This one is inept from start to finish.

Birdemic
Made in 2010, this film is even worse. A vanity project for a computer software salesman who made a fortune and then blew a chunk of it making this crappy movie. There is a ton of padding, namely with boring characters you don’t care about. The dialogue is horrible - worse than bad Japanese monster movie translations. Nothing that happens makes sense. And the birds? They would’ve been bad special effects in the 50’s.


Galaga and Pheonix arcade games had better graphics!

Watch both (at your own risk) and let me know which one you consider the worst movie ever made!

Rifftrax: Live – Doctor Who: The Five Doctors

The next show is August 17, with an encore showing on August 24 – and the guys are tackling Doctor Who.

If you’ve never been to a live show, you need to go. Mike, Bill, and Kevin riff the movie in front of a live theater audience (usually in Nashville) and the broadcast goes out live to theaters across the country. Now, seeing them in person is the best (I managed to do it once) but seeing a live broadcast is almost as good. Plus there’s something magical about being in a theater full of people who ‘get it.’

So, if you’re a RiffTrax or MST3K fan, or a Doctor Who fan, or just someone who likes making fun of movies, don’t miss it!

Box Office and Upcoming Films

An update on some big releases this year in terms of worldwide box office:
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Despicable Me 3, and Wonder Woman are all in the $800 million dollar range.
Although not likely to catch Beauty and the Beast or The Fate of the Furious, both over $1.2 billion dollars.
Spider-Man: Homecoming is still moving up with over $650 million.
And fortunately, Transformers: The Last Knight has stumbled and not even hit $600 million. (The last three Transformers films have all gone over a billion.) Maybe they will finally stop making them…

In my August movie preview, I failed to mention Wind River, starring Jeremy Renner and Kelsey Asbille. It came out August 4 in limited release. An FBI agent teams with a game tracker in a murder investigation that occurred on an American Indian reservation. What caught my attention was the director – Taylor Sheridan wrote the screenplay, and he also wrote the screenplays for Hell and High Water and Sicario, two films I really enjoyed. I’ll have to track down this film somewhere.


You’ll notice I never did review Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. I can sum it up in two words for you – hot mess. Enough said.

As for other notable films coming out this year:

September – The LEGO Ninjago Movie. No, I will not be seeing this one! Despite the Ninjas and Olivia Munn. Those are not my LEGOS. Nor did the first film amuse me.

October – Blade Runner 2049. Wow, does it look sleek!

November – Thor: Ragnarok. Wicked cool – and funny – trailers! Can’t wait to see Hulk and Loki interact. Looks like a great end to the trilogy.

November – Justice League. I have been dreaming of this film since I was a little comic book geek!!!! Joss Whedon is putting finishing touches on it after stepping in for Zack Snyder. (Who could not continue after his child committed suicide, which is very sad.)

Star Wars: The Last Jedi. It will be bittersweet, but looking forward to another great installment.

Insecure Writer’s Support Group

Thanks to every one for another great IWSG post day!
Remember, that is not a day to post and run – it’s a day to visit other writers and offer support.
It’s also not a day to just toss out a guest post – it has to relate to writer insecurity if you do.
Thanks for understanding!

There were also so many awesome #IWSGPit stories! Even those who didn’t see a lot of action on their Tweets had a good time.
2300 Tweets and our hashtag was a trending topic – that still blows me away!
The next #IWSGPit will be January 2018, and I am already adding to the list of agents and publishers to contact. We’ll have five times as many tuning in for the next one!

I still need one more co-host for September 6! Please leave a comment if you can co-host that day. You'll get the inside scoop on the IWSG Anthology Contest early...

I also wanted to mention a IWSG member in need. Christopher Votey has been a dedicated member for years and contributed a piece on world building at the IWSG site recently.
He’s also homeless right now. Due to an injury, he cannot work, and he couldn’t stay where he was living past August 1. A friend is trying to help him. Chris is a great guy – if you can. Please stop by and leave a word of encouragement for him.

Don’t forget the IWSG Show us Your Writer Insecurity contest on October 4.

There are some awesome prizes…

I’m looking forward to seeing all of the images!

And guess what’s coming in September…

Write…Edit…Publish

The Write...Edit...Publish team, Denise Covey, Yolanda Renee, Olga Godim and Nilanjana Bose, invite all writers to submit to our August challenge. We welcome flash fiction, non-fiction, poetry, photo essays or artwork. There is a $10 Amazon Gift Card for the winner, plus topnotch badges for the runners up. Let your creative juices flow for the REUNIONS challenge. Check out the WEP website for more stimulus.

What do you think is the worst film ever made? Going to see RiffTrax and The Five Doctors? What fall movie catches your interest? Participating in either IWSG contest? And have you seen Dunkirk yet? Why not?

I’m going to be gone this weekend, then after than I am taking most of August off. (I’ll poke in now and then though.) Two goals – writing and research more agents and publishers for the next #IWSGPit. Plus gear up for our next annual anthology contest!

Have a great summer.