Now Watching: Into the Dark
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Into the Dark is a horror anthology series, or at least that's how it was billed by Hulu. It's supposed to be a feature length episode, practically a stand alone horror film, one a month for specific holidays. Like Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas. However, the first "film" of the bunch to release, for halloween, doesn't exactly play like much of a horror. There's a little gross out in the beginning, moments of gore that flare up, but more often than not the movie plays more like a black romantic comedy.
It follows a serial killer who I suppose murders people on Halloween, as disposing the body is easier when people just excuse his grisly prop as part of the festivities. This Halloween things get complicated, however, when his tires are slashed, and to avoid the cops he goes along with some bozos to a raging party. This was where we met Ray Santiago from Ash vs Evil Dead, in a much more bumbling roll than we're used to. I also liked the girl in their gang, though the third guy, the one who invited the serial killer along to begin with, is the most forgettable of the bunch. The serial killer is fantastic, played by Tom Bateman. I talked to a director/writer of the project on twitter who revealed Tom chose the role specifically for the script, and he isn't wrong as the script is perhaps what holds this crazy mess together.
Anyway it's at the party where Tom Bateman meets the girl of his dreams, and it's the romance that blossoms from that which I found most appealing about this whole endeavor. Their chemistry is very engaging. If this had been just a strict horror film, as it had been billed, I probably wouldn't have made it through the first 10 minutes. It's only because it chose to go so outside the box and do something different that it held my interest, and I overall enjoyed the project. It could have stood alone, something my twitter source (@kesslerboy Paul Davis, apparently very open to communicating with fans) confirmed when he said that it had originally been a standalone film script, that Hulu chose to get behind, and chose to lead their anthology. If this is indicative of the strength we can expect from the other episodes coming in the next 11 months, I look forward to Thanksgiving.
Geekly Weekly TV Rankings:
- The Flash *****
I loved this season's premiere of The Flash. I loved Nora, loved how her plot developed. I look forward to watching her achieve her dream of saving her father. She's the best! Ralph Dibney was fun too, and I totally empathized with Iris. The scene where they phase the plane, as well as the speech she gives at the end, both made me tear up with joy. I might be too invested in this show. - Shameless ****1/2
A lot of people were getting it on this week on Shameless. Can't believe Liam had his first encounter. I had a feeling she liked him, but man that got crazy fast. It's too bad, I thought they'd make a cute couple. Then there was Carl and that other girl, and that was cute, until she went crazy. But then it turned cute again. Oh the Gallaghers. Why can't I be that lucky with love? That said, the Fiona plot is getting boring fast. Every week she disagrees with her emo hipster boyfriend, and they argue for the episode, and she acts like a conservative bitch, and he acts all judgemental. But then in the end, he apologizes, and she tells him he was right all along and then they do the nasty, and credits roll. That's only been what 5 episodes straight now? - Into the Dark **** This was a tumultuous roller coaster of an hour and a half. Billed as a horror Anthology, the first chapter comes off as a more unconventional romantic comedy for most the episode, with a number of surprising twists leading up to a startling game changer, and then a vindicating ending. I almost gave up after the first five minutes, when the main character eats maggot cheese. It's really gross. But when I started picking up on the comedy vibes, I was back in. Look out for Pablo, from Ash vs the Evil Dead. But the real star is the woman, Maggie. The less you want this to be straight horror, the more you'll probably enjoy this, though it goes a little horror at the end.
- Doctor Who ***1/2
It was a pretty good premiere. Not great, there were a lot of questionable bits. But Doctor Who has always been part amazing, and part crazy. With Doctor Who you just have to latch on and get pulled along for the ride. One thing's for sure. She was the Doctor. I had no problems in believing that. The way she solved the problem without direct violence was great, The creepiness of the villain was nice, though the grotesque examination of the body off screen came across as wonky. Can't wait for the rest of this season. - ZNation ***1/2
I love this show. The only person I've known who loved ZNation more than me is my ex-girlfriend. It's like the Walking Dead but fun. Except this episode wasn't all that fun, so it's not getting a great rating. But it was alright. It was very near the end of my day of DVR hell. It seems to be taking a strange direction though, but only time will tell. - The Walking Dead ***1/2
The Premiere had things I enjoyed, but I was also pretty bored throughout. And the whole scene with the glass floor was so predictable it was painful. There were times though when I felt a bit of the excitement, mainly around the beginning. Gregory was up to his old ways, but I was glad to see Maggie kick his ass and finally give him what he deserved. I was sitting at three stars, but they gave me what I wanted in the end. I used to enjoy Walking Dead more than this, but I might just be worn out from the like 12 hours of DVR I've spent all day working my way through. This is what happens when I sleep through a day (Sunday). Save me from my night shifts. subscribe at patreon.com/99geek - Black Lightning ***It's another show like Gifted, way too slow for my likings. I like characters in it, but they never seem to do anything interesting or cool. I'm holding on cause, like Gifted, it's a comic book show. This was as good an episode as some, without being great, and they also killed my favourite villain. She was bad ass, and now she's just dea,d I guess the actress wanted out. But it's too bad, she had a cool origin and personality. And was a total bad ass, while also being super hot. She will be missed.
- The Gifted **1/2 Another meh episode. Great things happened, I felt emotions when Marcos was with his baby. When he was fighting the cuckoo's control. Also the Morlocks were cool. But other than that, a whole lot of nothing happened, as per usual. God this show is always spinning their wheels, and building the drama... to more dramatic talking. It's just so boring.
- Star Wars Resistance **
I watched the first two episodes, and they do a decent job of setting up the status quo for season one, using Poe Dameron as a wise mentor to the main character, then shuffling him off camera after one episode, after all Oscar Issac is expensive even in voice. But BB8 sticks around, to my disappointment considering the kid already HAD an astromech droid, that promptly disappeared when BB showed up. The racing plot was so cookie cutter from a fast and furious move, it wasn't funny. Oh and you know what else wasn't funny? The humour. That said, Neither Clone Wars or Rebels came out of the gate running, but eventually became amazing. So I'll give it more time. It's Star Wars after all. - The Last Ship *1/2
This episode bored the crap out of me. There was weird time jumps and back and forths and it was hard to keep track of. On top of that, there was a love story that was all bullshit, some alright minor stories. But man, what a snoozefest. Almost gave up half way through. It was nice seeing Chandler's kids again, strangely the only part I cared about. Lol, at least until the hard rock montage juxtapositing his daughter's tantrum to them killing terrorists in Jamaica. Oh man that was dumb. And annoyingly loud. and the whole time Chandler is just yelling "I don't know what youre saying. Why are you mad at me! Why are you yelling." like it's not even about anything. Just a waste of time. - Saturday Night Live *
I had a hard time with this. I like Awkwafina in interviews. I wanna see Crazy rich Asians. But I thought she was terrible on SNL. She didn't seem to do very good with comedic timing on stage. She seemed to be constantly reading the cue cards, and barely trying. and it threw off every sketch. The Ted Cruz sketch was the best part, and it was really short. A digital short. It was hilarious though. The Weekend Update had some great moments too, including Pete Davidson's rant about Kanye West. Definitely those are the two only parts of the episode you need to watch.
Geekly Weekly Talk Show Showdown:
- Vice News Tonight (Tuesday October 9) ANother amazing conversation about Kavanaugh, and about women who suffer from abuse, and why a woman mgiht take that long to speak up, and why it isn't a sign of weakness.
- Vice News Tonight (Thursday, October 4)
Interesting discussions about Kavanaugh protests, and police brutality. Politics in Brazil (That footage of the man getting stabbed!) - The Daily Show (Tuesday October 9)Some funny discussions about kavanaugh made this worth watching, but I skipped the guest for time.
- Real Time with Bill Maher (Friday October 5)
Very interesting discussion about Kavanaugh. Makes me sick how many people have taken his side, or think white men are under attack. Disgusting. Andrew Sullivan on the panel was the worst. One of the worst kinds of people. He just kept spewing the most horrible derisive ugly shit, I wanted them to kick him off the panel. - Graham Norton Show (Saturday, October 6)
Good guests in Jamie Lee Curtis, Jeff Goldblum, and Rowan Akinson. But Jamie Lee Curtis seemed to not want to stop talking, and Jeff seemed to be finding her quite annoying. She kept taking jabs at him, countering everything he'd say with stories of her own, and he seemed to get bitter throughout the interview. Graham spent as much time moderating between their strong personalities as he did doting on the other guest, some pop star I didn't recognize but everyone else could at least agree to fawn over.
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