All the news that's unfit to print
Coca-Cola is discontinuing Tab and some other underperforming brands. I have had Tab soda at points and thought it was decent. Many maybe assumed it wasn't still being made, but it was...and now won't be. This is bit of a bummer and I'm sure anyone who loves Tab is upset as I was pretty bummed when Surge went away (and overjoyed when it returned years later). Grab some Tab while you're able as soon it'll be gone!
SOV stands for, "Shot on video." It is a term used for when in the 1980s moviemakers started realizing they could make movies on tape instead of film to save money. It made stuff look cheaper, yes, but with much of television on tape, it wasn't too big a deal. This opened the doors to many wild and bizarre SOV movies, with the horror genre especially benefitting. Despite about two decades worth of history to be found in these marvelous low-budget wonders, there ain't much written about SOV horror. A recent-ish book by Bleeding Skull about weird 1980's horror flicks touched upon things, yes, but we needed someone dedicated to make a veritable encyclopedia of SOV horror. Well, Richard Mogg created a 400+ page tome of SOV horror from 1982-1995 and he named it, "Analog Nightmares." It is a sight to behold.
"Analog Nightmares," is a large book. Not just in page count, this thing is tall and wide. I am thankful for this, as it allows Mogg to cram a ton of stills from movies, images of posters, advertising, and astounding behind-the-scene snapshots. Mogg doesn't present everything in a sterile way you'd expect from an encyclopedia-styled book either, he reviews what he personally liked in the many movies, what he didn't like, if he was unable to watch a handful, and his love for cinema--and horror flicks especially--is quite clear. That Mogg himself has made some flicks is no surprise as this man seems to live and breathe movies.
Between chapters that break-down every SOV horror film from a year that Mogg knows of he offers insight into the film and video rental industry at that time, interviews a wide range of directors, actors/actresses, and otherwise provides more detailed knowledge of SOV horror than you'll find anywhere else. Seriously, Mogg has probably casually forgotten more about SOV horror than 99% of us know. I also appreciate that Mogg comes at these at times hokey and low-budget features with a measure of appreciation and love, trying to find something to like in even the most miserable SOV production. While other books that touched upon SOV horror a bit-such as the aforementioned Bleeding Skull book--at times are a bit prone to mock how messy and wonky SOV horror could be, Mogg has an abiding appreciation for it all that is readily apparent in his writing.
"Analog Nightmares," was a delight to read and I recommend to anyone interesting in movies, horror, or exploring weird sub-categories such as the realm of SOV horror. As Mogg observes about our present time, now that we all have phones with cameras and can make movies with ease it isn't necessarily that era of DIY movie-making is gone, if anything it has only grown and become even wilder. That makes this look to the past in some ways an interesting glimpse at what the future of filmmaking is like today with more and more people setting out with little (or no) money and making their own backyard epics. The present is indeed a wild time, but reading about the past in Mogg's extensively detailed book was a pleasure.
5 out of 5 stars.
A sequel series to, "Watchmen," is a dangerous thing to make. The television show pulled it off, but could a comic focusing-in on Rorschach work? The new Black Label series written by Tom King with art by Jorge Fornes in addition to colors by Dave Stewart is here and the answer is...maybe? This first issue has received glowing reviews, good reviews, okay reviews, and absolutely terrible reviews, so opinions are all over the map. One thing everyone agrees on is that Fornes and Stewart provide some amazing art and colors, that ain't up for debate. The art interestingly is not in the style of, "Watchmen," and its nine-panel grid, with it breaking free of that format giving everything a different kind of tone already. Even though the comic takes place in an alternate 2020 there is a strong 70's thriller movie vibe to it between the outfits, hairstyles, and again, general vibe. That's the art and colors, however. Why is the writing causing so much division?
"Rorschach," presents a mystery. A right-wing Presidential candidate has been targeted by an extremist leftist who wanted to kill him and that would-be assassin was dressed as Rorschach of all people. This is odd as Rorschach was known for being a quite right-wing objectivist who died years ago and became a symbol of sorts for those beliefs. This point leads to the first reason some reviews are mad--an extremist leftist? Really? You don't see those on the far-left usually trying to kill political candidates. You see right-wing domestic terrorists planning to kidnap governors or shooting-up peaceful protests, but I guess in the, "Watchmen,"-verse things are different. This, "Both sides have bad apples," kind of look has irritated a chunk of reviewers, however. Another reason some folk are upset at, "Rorschach," is because it exists in the first place against Alan Moore's wishes. Moore of course was supposed to get the rights to, "Watchmen," and all its characters, etc. back once the book was out of print. It became a huge hit and DC screwed him over, however. That alone makes some ready to come at the book with knives drawn.
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| A foiled assassination attempt leads to a mystery. |
Putting aside some troubling political messaging and how the book existing is a slap in Alan Moore's face, I didn't hate it. The majority of the plot is spent introducing the mystery of the assassin and his female accomplice with any main characters (like a lead detective) being vaguely sketched-out with more character development to come later, I suppose. Again, this comic is gorgeous to look at, but as of right now there isn't much plot to speak of besides, "Who is this assassin, and how or why does he relate to the original Rorschach?" I didn't hate this comic, but it failed to do much for me either. This is itself a bit shocking as Tom King either usually is utterly amazing or absolutely terrible. I'm hopeful that with the basic groundwork laid for this mystery things will get in gear a bit more and if that does happen this could be a pretty snazzy read. As it is now though, it is a beautiful comic with a hopefully-not-pedestrian-for-too-much-longer story.
2.5 out of 5 stars.
Remember some time ago there was that random comic-book publisher--Terrific Production LLC.--which had never actually published a comic and inexplicably bought the rights to Rob Liefeld's comic, "Youngblood," as you maybe recall? It was before COVID-19 so it probably feels like this all happened eons ago. Websites like Bleedingcool relentlessly made fun of Terrific Productions for lacking even a website and just having a Twitter account that between crimes against grammar managed to piss off everyone in the field of comic-books with bizarre offers to creators to come make a comic for them. The company seemed to be one man with some past experience in comics--Andrew Rev--acting like a total fool. It was more of a joke than a real company, we all said. Nobody could have taken it seriously or actually be done harm by this lark, right? Well, Beth Elderkin has quite the eye-opening piece for you.
Titled, "Comics, Contracts, and Covid: Inside the Scandal at Terrific Production," the article examines how Rev/Terrific actually managed to trick a number of those hoping to make comics into predatory and insulting contracts, lying to plenty of folks and getting a lot of work for basically none of the money he should have paid. Rev comes across less like a clown and more like a con man who knows you'll underestimate him and takes full advantage of it. This whole fiasco is disgusting and no one should support any comics from Terrific Production if they ever actually get something published. Since the article was published others have observed Terrific/Rev has not taken the criticism well. Whenever light hits cockroaches they do tend to get upset.
"Paratopic," is a video-game you can play on your computer, or if you're me, Nintendo Switch. It is a short game, advertised as being maybe 45 minutes to an hour or so long. It doesn't cost too much and when it first came out on PC it got some glowing reviews as an eerie horror title with Playstation 1-style graphics that gave it a low-tech vibe complemented by an eerie lo-fi electronic soundtrack. There is an assortment of characters in the game who don't meet, and there are some mysteries about an old electric company, forbidden VHS tapes, and some creepy imagery to go with it all. "Paratopic," would be outright scary if it wasn't dull a good chunk of the time.
When you're the character smuggling VHS tapes across the border you have some off-kilter conversations with another resident of your apartment, gas station attendants, and you have long boring stretches of driving. When you're a lady hiking you can snap pictures of birds, stumble upon odd hidden areas that drip with atmosphere, and be annoyed wandering around unsure where you go next. The assassin you seem to play the least of and her story is one I would have liked more of.
There are times, "Paratopic," has some elements of body horror that are really disturbing--the VHS tapes do something to people that is grotesque. Sadly, between moments of tense horror or gross-out effects, you have long stretches of drab driving or wandering around the wilderness unsure what direction is even the correct one to go. There are moments of terror in, "Paratopic," they just are few and far between for my tastes. It's worth checking out, but know you'll need to be patient for your hour-ish of playtime.
3 out of 5 stars.
I am a fan of the works of Donny Cates. I just wrote how even if he seems to really be pushing that new Knull character, I figure he'll do a good job as so many of his works are great. I was a huge fan of some of his first comics, such as, "Buzzkill," and, "The Paybacks." I was sitting around the other day wondering if those characters would ever be written again so I tweeted at him, politely asking if we'll ever see more. He tweeted back to read his upcoming comic, "Crossover," and that made me happy to think some of his past works would be popping-up in his new big comic. I went to bed and that was that, or so I thought.
The next day I was flipping through the, "Key Collector," app for fun as I enjoy doing. I saw they had a post how Donny Cates had just hinted that past characters from his other works such as, "Buzzkill," might appear in, "Crossover." I immediately realized this post came about due to my tweet at him. I looked at sites like eBay and sure enough, "Buzzkill," and to a lesser degree, "The Paybacks," were suddenly hot books. I had inadvertently manipulated the comic-book market this week with an innocent little tweet at Donny Cates.
There is no exact moral to this story, just me having a firsthand account of how a simple tweet can cause a lot of market-madness. I apologize to anyone who had to pay a bunch extra to get a copy of, "Buzzkill," and say, "You're welcome," to the folk who were able to make some extra scratch selling their spare copies. I honestly didn't mean to manipulate the comic-book market, but 2020 has been a weird year for sure.
I enjoy playing, "Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout," and my son, Clarkson, loves watching thanks to the bright colors, fun sounds, and wild way the Fall Guys bump into each other. One big element of the game is unlockable and purchasable outfits. There is going to be a crossover with Sonic in that there'll be an outfit that...I want to say looks like him? It is actually scary, with the torso looking like a mouth and...it just ain't good. The idea of the outfit isn't to scare us, but that is just what it does.
The whole thing looks off-kilter and out of proportion. Perhaps this is because Fall Guys have some odd physiology that makes having them look just like Sonic kind of tricky. Maybe the designers of the outfit just didn't think things through. Whatever the case, this new outfit is nightmare-fuel and I'll be sticking to keeping my Fall Guy in his outfit of a pigeon head and gym shorts.
Donny Cates introduced the character Knull in his current, "Venom," run. He is a God of symbiotes, evil, and has a somewhat interesting character design. He's...fine. Since then there has been a slow build-up to present him as some huge evil that is terrifying and threatens the World at a cosmic-level. I don't hate Knull, but I'm not sure he is interesting enough to keep dedicating more and more comics too as well as an upcoming mega-event titled, "King in Black." Almost every Marvel book seems like it will directly tie-in with, "King in Black," or have an extra one-shot issue that does relate to it while sparing the regular series a tie-in.
It feels like not a day goes by without a new Knull-related book and today another one, "Planet of the Symbiotes," #1 was announced. It ties in past symbiotes and that, "Ravencroft," series that had Carnage's grandfather or such involved in it. Basically, if you have a Marvel comic it will somehow integrate Knull. I'm not upset or ecstatic. I will probably read the main, "King in Black," event comic because Donny Cates run on, "Venom," has been solid even with its at times heavy focus on Knull and it'll have Ryan Stegman on the art (who has been great illustrating, "Venom," as well). I will also read the, "King in Black," comics and one-shots that directly relate to series I'm already enjoying such as, "Immortal Hulk."
I ain't gonna be trying to pick-up all these random tie-ins however because the days of me being a completionist for event comics are long gone. The only Marvel titles I'm picking up basically every issue of are the current X-Men titles because the reboot has been pretty rad, and even this big multi-issue, "X of Swords," thing is a bit much. I don't need that and a metric ton of Knull comics when I am so indifferent to the character. That's how I feel about all this, at least.
"Saturday Night Live," returned last week with Chris Rock hosting and was perfectly fine, it usual decent-but-somewhat-toothless self. Last night, however, actually had some edge and at other points just got enjoyably weird. The show opened with what seemed to be a usual debate spoof with the always-welcome-back Maya Rudolph playing Kamala Harris and Beck Bennet portraying Mike Pence. It was fine, but took a weird swerve when Jim Carrey's Joe Biden tried to teleport to the debate and morphed into a fly that also talked like Jeff Goldblum (because, you know, he was the Fly before). Also, a reincarnated Herman Cain (played by Kenan Thompson) appeared as a fly and it was so bizarre that the internet mostly hated it but I admired the surreal direction SNL went.
From there we had host Bill Burr come out and true to his stand-up roots do a set that pushed boundaries. It started out a bit wobbly talking about, "Woke," culture with a, "I'm a white guy, what is this?" kind of vibe, but took a delicious swerve when Burr discussed White women essentially taking over Woke culture and ignoring how complicit they have been in much of the discrimination and persecution of minorities over the years--e.g. "White Feminism." Twitter erupted with many White women calling for Burr's head but also a number of my friends and other random folk saying, "Well, he isn't wrong."
Burr's monologue/set closed a bit weakly with riffs on gay pride month being in a warm and fun month and Black history month being in a cold and short month, but the audible discomfort and nervous laughter in the audience was a refreshing change of pace for an SNL that often plays it safe. Everyone'ss response was mixed to Burr's monologue, but I thought it did what it set out to do.
It wasn't just the host bringing some pointed barbs, however. Weekend Update was refreshingly on point, with Michael Che outright expressing some minor disappointment that Trump is doing okay with his COVID-19 infection, comparing it to a horrific car accident where only the drunk driver lived. There was a sweet moment too with Kate McKinnon doing a bit as a smart doctor that was bombing before it took a swerve into her, "Breaking," character and discussing how with us not knowing so much about what the future holds she just wanted to be a character who did know something. This was of course a fully scripted moment and nobody actually, "Broke," as some websites are framing it, but it still worked wonderfully. Pete Davidson closed things out doing what he does best on SNL--playing himself just sharing comedic thoughts, and he pointed out the irony of how J.K. Rowling created a magical world where exotic mystical beings get along yet she has revealed herself to be a huge transphobe.
Besides the opening, Burr's monologue, and a solid Weekend Update the show didn't really have any stinkers of sketches. There was a fun segment about a couple going stir-crazy form COVID-19, a sports segment that goes off the rails as one commentator misreads the usual room's mood, and a mafia sketch that dragged a little bit with a mobster out of prison after 20 years struggling to adjust to new societal norms, but it still had its charms. Oh, and because some random newer country singer (named Morgan Wallen, methinks) partied some days before his SNL gig they canceled him for now and instead called-up Jack White who was more than happy to fill-in and absolutely rock the place. His mic was bit weak, making vocals hard to hear, but that man can play the guitar. I think SNL traded-up replacing Wallen with White, but that's just me.
All-in-all we had an episode of SNL yesterday that had some decent meat on the bone in terms of content. I love the show but will readily admit it sometimes can be a bit too eager to fall-back on predictable bits or reliable and easy segments like faux gameshows. The Bill Burr-hosted episode wasn't perfect, but Burr was willing to take some risks and the show did it with him too. I'll always take an edgy and weird SNL episode over a blandly entertaining one.
In many games, you play a protagonist going into a lab or such after a monster has escaped and wreaked havoc. Imagine a game where you were the monster, however. In, "Carrion," you get to be a ball of meat, teeth, and blood that flings itself around a secret base in the hopes of eventually escaping. There isn't too much plot besides some mysterious flashbacks, and that's okay. You're a monster, you eat people, and you do it with gusto--that's about all you need. I played, "Carriron," on my Nintendo Switch and I had lots of fun doing this eating.
As the unnamed creature in, "Carrion," you look a bit like John Carpenter's version of, "The Thing," and will need to use various abilities to at times sneak around and at other points brute-force your way through assorted threats and occasional environmental puzzles. I stink at complicated puzzles and nothing really stumped me, so that shows things are not too difficult, thankfully. Generally, you just need to get through an area using your abilities in clever ways. Sometimes you'll need to be invisible, other times you'll need to grow some sharp skin. The pixel-style graphics have a nice retro feel while still holding a modern sheen with some gorgeous effects such as how fluidly the monster (generally) moves or the gorgeous way fire from the humans' flamethrowers erupts. You almost want to stare at it, but doing so instead of seeking out some water to cool-off will result in you dying and going back to the last checkpoint.
Carrion isn't perfect. As your monster grows larger sometimes movement can feel a bit janky. A small monster moves with grace and ease, a big one kind of flops around and gets stuck in the game's tighter corners. Also, there are some points where you'll be back in the staging-area of sorts and not be exactly sure where you'll need to go--resulting in some trial and error. You'll realize you're back in the hub-area with some new skills and then kind of just muddle around until you realize where the next zone you need to stop by is. A map or optional objective-pointer would be appreciated.
Minor qualms aside, "Carrion," is great fun and a fantastic way to spend 5-8 hours depending on how quickly you breeze through it and if you look for extra hidden items/containment units. Between the great graphics and fun gameplay, I had a stellar time.
5 out of 5 stars.
