Baltimore Screening Pass-palooza: “Annabelle Comes Home”!

Let’s get spooky! I’ve got passes for the next chapter in the Conjuring universe! Synopsis!

Determined to keep Annabelle from wreaking more havoc, demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren bring the possessed doll to the locked artifacts room in their home, placing her “safely” behind sacred glass and enlisting a priest’s holy blessing. But an unholy night of horror awaits as Annabelle awakens the evil spirits in the room, who all set their sights on a new target—the Warrens’ ten-year-old daughter, Judy, and her friends.

Ready? Let’s go! Continue reading

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Baltimore Screening Pass-palooza: “Toy Story 4”!

Ready to go on an another adventure with Buzz and Woody? Synopsis!

Woody (voice of Tom Hanks) has always been confident about his place in the world, and that his priority is taking care of his kid, whether that’s Andy or Bonnie. So when Bonnie’s beloved new craft-project-turned-toy, Forky (voice of Tony Hale), declares himself as “trash” and not a toy, Woody takes it upon himself to show Forky why he should embrace being a toy. But when Bonnie takes the whole gang on her family’s road trip excursion, Woody ends up on an unexpected detour that includes a reunion with his long-lost friend Bo Peep (voice of Annie Potts). After years of being on her own, Bo’s adventurous spirit and life on the road belie her delicate porcelain exterior. As Woody and Bo realize they’re worlds apart when it comes to life as a toy, they soon come to find that’s the least of their worries.

Let’s go!

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Fest News: Overlook 2019 Part 2 – What’s Not To Love?

As I said in Part 1 of my Overlook wrap-up, this fest had a whole lot going on, and every bit of it was something I wish I could have experienced. But alas, it was not to be. A combination of So Much Awesome and me being way dehydrated/wiped (why Part 1 was something I dearly wanted to write up) meant that I didn’t catch as much as I’d have liked. However, I did get to experience quite a lot, and I’m gonna share that with you. Right now. Continue reading

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Fest News: Overlook 2019 Part 1 – How To Survive The Overlook Film Festival

Okay, so I love New Orleans. And I love horror. Combining the two? A match made in heaven y’all. (Or lower, depending on what you consider a high compliment. Do you.) The Overlook Film Festival 2019 was an absolute blast, with a crackerjack staff and volunteer crew delivering lots of spooky fun for four glorious days. Did I see as much as I would have liked? Nope – there’s no way anyone could have gotten to everything they wanted to, Overlook had just too much fun available! But I did get a whole lot of fun in, and I’m gonna tell you how to enjoy Overlook, and what I personally enjoyed, each in their own post. Part 1 right after the jump…so let’s do this!

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Fest News: Overlook Film Fest announces their 2019 Awards!

Holy blip it was an incredible lineup at this year’s Overlook Film Festival! And it was really hard trying to rate all these wonderful films and shorts…but rate we did. And tada; here are the winners from this year’s films!

The American Graffiti-meets-War of the Worlds vibe of The Vast of Night took the Jury Award for feature films, and One Cut Of The Dead got an Honorable Mention, because it’s absolutely fabulous and everyone should see it. The Audience Awards were swapped, with Dead nabbing the main prize and Night getting runner-up. Looks like horrorhounds of all levels know what fun is, amirite?

Read all the 411 after the jump!

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Gus Writes: “Rocketman”!

Gotta love when Gus Russo takes the lead here at AFan – herewith, his excellent review of Rocketman!

With Rocketman, director Dexter Fletcher is the now the official king of the pop music biopic. Right on the heels of his exhilarating Bohemian Rhapsody, Fletcher tackles another iconic pop sensation, Sir Elton John, albeit with a different approach. Instead of a movie with song performances, Fletcher does the Jersey Boys thing with Elton’s extravagant life story. And it was a brilliant choice because it’s quite possible that Sir
Elton imagines his larger-than-life songs as part of his own unending, madhouse Broadway musical. The costume designer must have had a blast. Continue reading

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“Godzilla” King of the Monsters”: a passable but messy second outing

“May God have mercy on us all.”

Story: After the destruction of 2014’s Godzilla , a group of folks get together to try to stop more Kaiju Titans from awakening and wreaking havoc. (Does that read like a lazy effort? I’m just setting the mood for the film itself.)

Genre I’d put it in: Sadly Overhyped American Kaiju Stories

Remake, Sequel, Based-On, or Original: Based on the Toho Studios series. Part of the Legendary/Warner Bros. MonsterVerse.

Gotta say: What the hell happened? This was one of the most anticipated films in my 2019 roster. The trailers looked incredible. The CGI was outstanding. So again, what happened? Continue reading

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Baltimore Screening Pass-palooza: “Late Night”!

Ready to bow down to the greatness (greatness-es?) that are Emma Thompson and Mindy Kaling? Let’s do this. Synopsis!

Katherine Newbury (Emma Thompson) is a pioneer and legendary host on the late-night talkshow circuit. When she’s accused of being a “woman who hates women,” she puts affirmative action on the to-do list, and—presto!—Molly (Mindy Kaling) is hired as the one woman in Katherine’s all-male writers’ room. But Molly might be too little too late, as the formidable Katherine also faces the reality of low ratings and a network that wants to replace her. Molly, wanting to prove she’s not simply a diversity hire who’s disrupting the comfort of the brotherhood, is determined to help Katherine by revitalizing her show and career—and possibly effect even bigger change at the same time.

Ready? Let’s go!

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TrailerWatch: get a big dose of cute from “Abominable!”!

OMGOMGOMG how cuuuuute!  I just love big fuzzy animated things, don’t you? Synopsis!

When teenage Yi (Chloe Bennet, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) encounters a young Yeti on the roof of her apartment building in Shanghai, she and her mischievous friends, Jin (Tenzing Norgay Trainor) and Peng (Albert Tsai), name him “Everest” and embark on an epic quest to reunite the magical creature with his family at the highest point on Earth. But the trio of friends will have to stay one-step ahead of Burnish (Eddie Izzard), a wealthy man intent on capturing a Yeti, and zoologist Dr. Zara (Sarah Paulson) to help Everest get home.

Abominable hits theaters September 27th, 2019.

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Game of Thrones Season 8: A Song of Idiosyncrasy and Furor

Originally published at The Green Man Review!

Beware: this review is dark and full of spoilers. As this is a critique, I’m assuming you’ve watched, so there’s plenty of specifics here. You have been warned.

Here we are, walking through the smoking wreckage of Game of Thrones. We’ve had seven seasons filled with almost every emotion possible; some moments were excellent, some simply got us to the next point, and a few that were downright exasperating. Season 8 is all of that, writ in six episodes. Continue reading

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