Weekly Roundup 11/03/2024
Star Trek, Terrifier 3, Frankenstein
If you know me personally, then you probably know that I deal with a ton of anxiety. With the election coming up, it’s gotten even worse. I just want it to be November 6th already. So I don’t have any work updates for you this week, but I’ll talk about some of the things I watched and read and hopefully next week I’ll have something a bit more substantial.
What Am I Working On?
Nothing this week. With Halloween Horror Nights ending and the election just around the corner, I’ve been dealing with enough.
Weekly Roundup
Young Frankenstein
Young Frankenstein is one of my favorite movies so it was very cool to finally get to see the film with a crowd (even if it was a cold as hell outdoors theater). Zahra had won wickets in a giveaway and we got to see it on Halloween. The timing was also interesting because Teri Garr had just passed away.
I don’t have anything worthwhile to say about the film. It’s a classic and still very funny.
Frankenstein (1931)
I always forget how different the original Frankenstein is from the book. I haven’t seen it in years (probably not since our Dark Universe discussion on the Podcast). Like Young Frankenstein, I’m not sure I can add anything worthwhile to the discussion. I enjoyed rewatching it, and will probably watch the remake soon.
Terrifier 3
There was a criticism lobbied towards the first two Terrifier films that Damien Leone hates women since most of the female deaths in the film are more brutal than the male ones. He seems to have taken that to heart because he ramps up the kills in this one. Terrifier 3 has some brutal male deaths that are going to make you squirm in your seat.
It’s not as good as Terrifier 2 though, which I thought rocked. I think its major failing is with the last film’s biggest strength, Sienna. She’s still a great and welcome addition to the story, but her arc feels more like filler in this one and isn’t as well connected to Art (who’s very funny in this one). Without spoiling, I’ll also say that I didn’t care for the role that Vicky played in this one.
It was still pretty good though and at this point, you know what you’re getting yourself into with this film series. I’m very curious what the next one is going to do.
Smile 2 (Mild Spoilers)
I would like there to not be any more Smile films. I think the two films are very good and have covered the breadth of this concept to its fullest.
I think both films are surprisingly good representations of anxiety and it’s really cool to see the two films centered on people with mental illness. Sky is especially a great character and the way the Smile demon messes with her makes for some of the coolest reveals and scares I’ve seen.
SPOILERS BELOW
That said, I don’t like a horror movie that doesn’t have some hope that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. It’s very important to me, that if I’m going to follow a character they will be able to beat the monster and live happily ever after. Which probably says more about my anxieties and mental illness than anything else.
This movie proves definitively that there is no beating the Smile demon. I’m good to be in that world for two movies, but any more and I just don’t see the point in returning to that world. Why keep punishing yourself?
Do A Powerbomb
W/A: Daniel Warren Johnson
Surprise, another Daniel Warren Johnson book! At this point, I’m just working through his bibliography. I think what draws me to him, is his clear love and passion for everything he writes. It’s a very similar reason for why I do this newsletter, I like to share what I love (and something what I don’t). For example: in Murder Falcon, DWJ wanted to write a story about why he loves metal music. Do A Powerbomb is a story he wanted to tell to showcase his love of Pro-Wrestling.
The story follows a young girl who wants to be a pro-wrestler like her mother, but everyone around tells her she should stop because her mother died in the ring. But, a Necromancer comes to her to invite her to an intergalactic wrestling match, where the stakes are real. If she wins, she’ll be able to bring back anyone she wants from the dead. So of course, she joins.
It’s such an incredible and emotional story, filled with big reveals and incredible action. DWJ’s love for wrestling comes through on every page. I was completely engrossed in the story, I had a hard time putting it down.
Star Trek Vol. 3: Glass and Bone
W: Colin Kelly & Jackson Lanzing/A: Markus To
Despite the frustrating odyssey that IDW put me through to get the hardcover, I was so excited to finally read this. This current Star Trek series is in my top three favorite books I read (It’s Transformers and Radiant Black for those keeping score).
For this volume, Captain Sisko takes his crew to a planet of intelligent dinosaurs who are creating a fleet of ships that would create a lot of problems for the quadrant. This volume brings back Harry Kim (complete with promotion) and dives into how the lives of the Voyager crew have changed and more specifically how Tom’s hasn’t and why. We also get more of Ensign Sato, which I was happy about because I like her.
The seeds for the Lore War are planted in this volume, as well as the seeds for future Trek stories that we’ve already seen, like Star Trek: Nemesis and Star Trek: Picard. That kind of fan service was probably unnecessary because it would never be addressed again in the book, but it helps everything feel connected.
Recently Posted
There are some good pieces in this bunch. I think the best one is “Welcome To Earth One” personally, but it’s interesting to go back to my COVID-19 piece and see how right and wrong I was.
