Movie Review: PREY FOR THE DEVIL...

Earlier today, I watched the horror flick Prey for the Devil at AMC theaters.

I had to put a lot of thought into deciding whether or not I should see this film...considering that for personal reasons, I continue to refuse to view the classic devil-walks-among-us horror movie, The Exorcist. (Traumatic childhood memories will do that to ya!) This is despite the fact I've watched all but one of the Paranormal Activity flicks, as well as all of The Conjuring films—including spinoffs like The Nun and Annabelle!

As for Prey for the Devil, it had its predictable moments of jumpscares and suspense. I would actually say that the recent horror movie Smile had more frightful scenes than this flick, which is directed by The Last Exorcism's Daniel Stamm.

Nevertheless, I think the reason why Prey for the Devil still touches a nerve for me is that I was raised Catholic. I wouldn't say I'm a devout Catholic considering the fact I haven't gone to church on a weekly basis since before the pandemic, but the story about Lucifer and demons still freak me out.

However, one amusing thing about Prey for the Devil is the main location of this movie: Which is the fictional St. Michael the Archangel School of Exorcism in Boston, Massachusetts. Schools of exorcism do exist in real life (as the Vatican really does teach courses about this sacramental rite), but only in a Hollywood flick can St. Michael be a high-tech, multistory compound that's something you would see in a Jason Bourne film, a James Bond movie or even an Avengers flick by Marvel Studios!

As for the cast, the performances were superb. Jacqueline Byers was stoic as Sister Ann, Colin Salmon was noble as Father Quinn, Christian Navarro was helpful as Father Dante and Posy Taylor did a great job portraying the possessed persona of Natalie.

Linda Blair would be proud of Taylor's performance! Even though I never watched The Exorcist...nor do I intend to in the future. Have a fun Halloween, everyone!

Movie Review: BLACK ADAM...

Earlier today, I watched the DC Extended Universe's (DCEU) newest flick, Black Adam, at AMC theaters. Needless to say, it was a very action-packed film!

Dwayne Johnson plays Teth-Adam, who—like Billy Batson (portrayed by Zachary Levi in the 2019 film Shazam! and next year's sequel, Shazam! Fury of the Gods, respectively) centuries later—is a superhero that was bestowed a plethora of god-like powers by wizards who considered him to be the "champion" humanity needed.

Unlike Billy Batson, however, Teth-Adam didn't start off as a superhero...but as an angry demigod who first sought revenge against the tyrannical king of Kahndaq during its ancient days, and then against anyone who basically pissed him off after he was awoken from his 5,000-year sleep in Kahndaq's present day.

Like the live-action Venom films by Sony Pictures and Marvel, Black Adam does a nice job of depicting Teth-Adam's brutality while also retaining the movie's PG-13 rating.

At one point early on in the flick, Adam nonchalantly flings a hapless mercenary into the air as if he was a baseball. In the subsequent shot, we see that the mercenary's arm—which Adam grabbed when he threw him—is still in one of the demigod's hands, severed and all!

There are lots of other great moments in Black Adam where Teth showed his badassery (most of them featuring his use of lightning against his enemies), but one thing I really liked about the movie is that the film made sure to remind the audience that it's part of the DCEU. It's clearly obvious Amanda Waller (once again aptly played by Viola Davis), who we first met in 2016's Suicide Squad, is the Nick Fury of the DC cinematic universe...only with less morals.

And let's not forget the Justice Society as well as other protagonists and antagonists who were introduced in Black Adam. Aldis Hodge was formidable as Hawkman, Pierce Brosnan was noble as Dr. Fate, Noah Centineo was hilarious as Atom Smasher, Sarah Shahi was headstrong as Adrianna Tomaz, Quintessa Swindell was very reliable as Cyclone, Bodhi Sabongui was idealistic as Adrianna's son Amon, Mohammed Amer was also hilarious as Adrianna's brother Karim, and Marwan Kenzari was dangerous as both Ishmael and Sabbac.

I'm not sure if I'd rank Black Adam among the top films of the DCEU (where 2017's Wonder Woman, Zack Snyder's Justice League cut and the first Shazam! reside), but I will say that it's definitely entertaining.

If you watch Black Adam, stay for the end credits! You won't be disappointed...and the DCEU has a bright future ahead of it considering what that cameo entails. Carry on.

On This Day in 2002: My Student Film Version of THE BROKEN TABLE Is Put on Celluloid...

It was 20 years ago today that my nine crew members from Cal State Long Beach and I met up at a classmate's house in Fullerton, CA, to shoot my student film version of The Broken Table (TBT)!

Unlike the remake of TBT that was shot over three days almost three years ago, this version only had one day to be filmed. In fact, I was only given four hours to shoot a two-minute film as the main assignment for my FEA 336 class in college! I finished in about two hours...though I could've used the rest of that time to film more coverage for The Broken Table.

The lack of coverage was one of the reasons why I would reshoot TBT over 17 years later. Another reason is TBT still being my favorite of four films that I shot at Cal State Long Beach during film school—due to it having a smooth production shoot and also the fact that my cast and crew on this project were very fun to work with!

I've included behind-the-scenes pics in this entry featuring highlights from the postproduction process for The Broken Table. Most filmmakers today use computer software such as Adobe Premiere, Avid, Final Cut Pro and Lightworks (which is what I employed on the 2019 version of TBT) to bring their works to life; my film teacher had us use old-school (very old-school) equipment such as a Steenbeck flatbed to edit our projects. Pretty gnarly!

And at the very bottom of this entry is a side-by-side comparision showing how the 2002 version of TBT is both similar and different to the project that I shot three years ago. A random bit of trivia: The same screwdriver was used in both films!

Quick Review: HALLOWEEN ENDS...

I watched the trilogy-ending horror flick Halloween Ends at AMC theaters today. I thought that it was trying to end the narrative arc of this trio of films while simultaneously opening the franchise to new flicks (featuring a new character behind the eerie William Shatner mask), but turns out that this movie went for the full closure. I liked it.

Jamie Lee Curtis is such a badass as Laurie Strode and Michael Myers will never cease to be a classic monstruous villain.

Will Blumhouse Productions, which is responsible for this Halloween trilogy, tackle Freddy Krueger and A Nightmare on Elm Street next? I never saw any of the Friday the 13th films.

Photos of the Day: Gettin' Up Close and Personal with the Darkstar from TOP GUN: MAVERICK!

Earlier today, I went to the Aerospace Valley Air Show at Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California...where I saw the full-size model used for the Darkstar hypersonic aircraft in Top Gun: Maverick!

The Darkstar looked much smaller in person than in the film itself (as with the case for a lot of things, and actors, in Hollywood), but it was just as sleek as the SR-71 Blackbird, the F-22 Raptor and the F-35 Lightning II also on display at the Mojave Desert-based event.

The stealth-like design of the Darkstar doesn't come as a surprise seeing as how the model, just like the three actual aircraft mentioned above, was also built by Lockheed. To be more specific, Darkstar was assembled by Lockheed's famed 'Skunk Works' division!

This is why the Skunk Works logo is visible on the vertical stabilizer of the Darkstar (as shown below) and even the joystick used by Maverick (Tom Cruise) inside the plane's cockpit if you watch the film again. Carry on!

Quick Review: AMSTERDAM...

So I saw the movie Amsterdam at AMC theaters earlier today. It's a nice cautionary tale about how big businesses are trying to influence government affairs and run America, and how certain groups of people in this country want it to emulate the authoritarian regimes that the U.S. defeated in past wars.

Yup, the trailer totally didn't give the actual plot (which is based on true events) away! Well done, David O. Russell.

And wonderful performances by Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, John David Washington and the rest of the cast in this ensemble picture...

I'm guessing this movie will be up for a few nominations come awards season several weeks from now. I'm curious about how this film will do at the Oscars!

Movie Review: SMILE...

Earlier today, I watched the Parker Finn-helmed horror film Smile at AMC theaters.

Needless to say, this movie was intense to watch and had lots of jump scares! But in terms of being frightening enough to keep me up at night, Smile is too high-concept a thriller to scare audiences the way a classic horror flick like The Exorcist would.

Smile is a cautionary tale about how individuals struggling with depression continue to be ostracized in this day and age, and how folks coping with mental illness can be severely misunderstood by other people.

That being said, Smile is also about a mysterious monster who gets inside people, makes them grin like the Joker from Batman and then causes them to kill themselves in the worst way possible! Any unlucky person who witnessed that victim commit suicide ended up being targeted by that monster next.

As mentioned earlier, this concept—while definitely very original—is too fancy a premise to make anyone but young children afraid to go to bed at the end of the day. Smile's invisible, grin-inducing creature is just like Pennywise from the IT movies... In regards to those Stephen King flicks, I don't think that adult moviegoers worried about some interdimensional creature disguising itself as a clown before preying on them once they left the multiplex!

The Exorcist, on the other hand, was simply about a girl who was possessed by a demon (a scenario that freaks me out having been raised as a Catholic)...which is why I've never viewed this film.

So bottom line is, Smile is a great horror flick to watch, but not to be traumatized by once the end credits rolled.

Speaking of the ending (no spoilers here): Depending on how Smile does at the box office this weekend, I really won't be surprised if Paramount Pictures greenlights a sequel...which I'll totally see! Happy First Day of October.