Happy Halloween! I how you all have an excellent Friday night, whether you party, go trick or treating, or just stay at home and read Mojeaux’s excellent pirate novel. I may do all three! For the last Thursday before Halloween I have a double feature!
The Vourdalak
This looks fun! And it’s from 2023! It’s a French film too, which we hardly ever get. It’s also the debut film from French director Adrien Beau! So something new and interesting for this Halloween! And what is it about? I am not super jazzed about anyone’s explanation so I wrote my own: This is a full-length movie of a Alexei Tolstoy story The Family of the Voudalak which was previously done as one of three stories in Black Sabbath (The Wurdulak). The plot: A French courtier is hiding from the Turks by short-cutting through the woods. He encounters a family estate and requests sanctuary. He gets it – and then realizes the family hosts an old vampiric monster known as the Vourdalak. Hilarity ensues!
What makes this film great is that practical effects were used. Mostly because nobody had any money for this film. I grow weary of computer animation and I salute this effort!
The Boxtrolls
Look! A newish stop-motion movie by a group that is not Aardman! This is a fantastic story with an evil villain played by Ben Kingsley, whose voice is barely recognizable. It’s been one of my favorites for a while now. It is a dark comedy with a whiff of cheese allergies around the edge.
This is based on the book series Here Be Monsters by Alan Snow. It’s a kid’s book in a similar way that Roald Dahl wrote kid’s books. The books covered a lot more ground than the movie, which is never a surprise with these types of translations. The movie focused in on one type of monsters: Boxtrolls, and their mortal enemy “The Snatcher.” As one reviewer says, if you want Disney, go see Disney! This is a dark film for the rest of us! There are no punches pulled. So what is it about?
The story is about a young orphaned boy raised by underground cave-dwelling trash collectors who tries to save his friends from an evil exterminator, the town’s villain, Archibald Snatcher. –IMDB
What this doesn’t tell you is about all the garbage, puss, grotesquerie, kidnapping and cross-dressing that goes on. This really is fantastic and worth a view, even for those of you who may feel that it is just another kids’ film. I assure you, it is not.
I Hate All These Things! What Else Do You Have?
Funny you should mention it. These is a great selection of horror films on Tubi, and I am listing them below:
- Phantasm: Remastered – This is the 4K remaster of Phantasm. It looks beautiful. You can see every nose hair.
- Santo vs. The Vampire Women – Yes. A Mexican Wrestler film.
- Death Smiles at Murder – This is the infamous movie poster that helped to inspire Weasels Ripped my Flesh.
- Hate all that? Well, you can get mainstream stuff like Child’s Play, Christine and Halloween free streaming this year. Enjoy!
So watch! Or don’t! Everything is voluntary! I hope you have a wonderful Halloween whatever you choose to do. Starting next week will be the return of Audience Appreciation Thursdays! I have a selection of films chosen by all of you which will bring us into December.
“This is the infamous movie poster”
Is that a real movie?
Yes! You are watching it at this very moment.
Lots of choices.
Itβs an orgy of movies.
Wow.
I’ve got a lot to watch over the weekend.
I won’t be able to join tonight. I’ve got some stuff to wrap up for work.
Thanks RJ!
Death Smiles at Murder. I think I’ll watch this one. Which is a real movie. No idea why Tubi never has Spanish subs. Anyway, not that into animation, and that French film seems annoying.
It took 20 minutes for the Vourdalak to show up.
There is an English dub of the film out there on Tubi
Sometimes you just want to watch Klaus Kinski battle a ferret.
Better than Richard Gere fights a gerbil.
Spoiler alert, the gerbil loses, or at least gets lost.
Evil villain?
Ben Kingsley??
Sold. He makes an excellent villain.
Talk to me, Gal. I’m here for you. I’m a good listener.
Pre-cisely.
I didn’t know that Phantasm had been remastered.
Loved the first one. Angus Scrimm freaked me out as a kid.
I also thought it was funny that Reggie whatever his name is played Reggie.
All they did was clean up the best print available and digitize it in 4K. It is not a remake. Original Angus and Reggie.
Sadly Reggie went i to hospice this year in February.
Hospice? Rats.
I don’t remember if I’ve ever seen Christine. Read the book, still have it.
1958 Plymouth Fury. Nice car.
The 440/6 Cuda in Phantasm looks great, but it’s fake.
It’s one of the better King movies.
Audience Appreciation?
Does that mean we finally get Smell-O-Vision?
π±
Pull my finger. Iβll give you Smell-O-Vision.
While you are technically correct, that kind of smell isn’t funny. Unless you do it to your wife, then it’s hysterical.
I saw Boxtrolls at the theater! I liked it.
μμΈ!! These both sound really interesting. I especially appreciate the turn back to dark children’s fare. (Gotta learn at some point that life’s hard, and that that chocolatier actively kills children. Golden lessons, abound.
Totally OT but I really enjoyed this.
https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/harvard-students-weep-at-being-told-theyre-expected-to-learn/
::GT weeps at being told she has to subscribe to finish reading the article::
I just give up on trying to read articles.
Sorry GT. I thought The Corner posts were free.
No Tres here to offer Tall Cans for the Tall Man?
the Tall Man
Randolph Scott?
Morning. Clocked in and ready to rock.
Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.
Oh! I’m setting up an interview for a remote gig. This could be an interesting start of something. Most intrigued, am I.
Donβt be a cam whore.
What kind of a whore do you want him to be? :-p
A successful one.
Happy Halloween!
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHocVRUlvkk
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I always heard that this was the inspiration for the Zappa album.
Try this
Morning, Glibs.
Office day π
Mornin
π
I was just trying to say “Morning”
Good morning, U, OBE, Teh Hype, Sean, Ted’S, and EfE!
Morning, GT.
How are you today, U?
I stayed up until 2:30 for no good reason, but made it into the office.
The state has shown its true colors and lit up the exterior of the office buildings in red, giving them an ominous appearance. Some may claim it’s for holloween, but we know better.
Is Governess Kathy going to give a big speech out front tonight?
π€·ββοΈ
I tend to ignore her.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/crime/general/never-before-seen-video-shows-how-downtown-cincinnati-brawl-started/ar-AA1PwpbB?ocid=BingNewsSerp
Whoopsie, we were trying to hide this until AFTER the election. The ‘kick’ on the car was a bit unnecessary and good on some black and white folk actually trying to separate it but it wasn’t a slap that started the Cincinnati brawl/beatdown/attempted manslaughter.
So who’s going to lose a re-election bid because of this?
Bwahahahahahahahahahahaha
If it’s so laughable, then why did you say they were bothering to try to hide it until after the election?
Last minute October surprise!
Caught the local hockey game last night. The fans are actually versed in hockey and enjoy the game. Lots of families, date nights, old farts, drunkards, idiots wearing “69 Shorsey” jerseys. $2 beer night helps of course. Happy Friday!
Game 6 of the World Series tonight. Toronto sports media has concluded it is inevitable that the Blue Jays will win. Becuase they are idiots who every fall tell us the Maple Leafs are the hands down favourite to win the Stanley Cup. Sure, Jan.
I am hopeful and optimistic, but it is by no means guaranteed. That’s why they play the games.
More and more I’m concluding that most major sporting contests are influenced if not straight up fixed by gamblers. The NBA stuff that has come out recently is likely the tiniest tip of the iceberg.
Hopefully your Blue Jays win.
I predicted LA in 5. I don’t think Yamamoto will be as good as the CG game. Him warming up in the 18 inning game may affect him, and seeing him twice.
I hope and actually now predict TOR in 7. That’d be swell.
suh’ fam
yo whats goody
Gonna talk to someone about if I get a gig, how I can best leave to not burn bridges, keep Walmart as a backup, just keep my name at the top of the hopper, which picks my name first in this dreadful example.
I’m in my car on break, give me a break.
Lunch in two hours! Cobb salad w my own extra bacon. Classy.
Happy Halloween all! This is like the secret pre-linx hangout.