Movie Review: SCREAM VI...

Earlier today, I watched Scream VI at AMC theaters.

Just like last year's Scream, this movie was extremely violent and twisted...which is why it completely lived up to my expectations! Ghostface is just so awesome.

Scream VI and the 2022 installment are the only films that I saw in the Scream franchise, so I don't know the earlier stories behind Kirby Reed (Hayden Panettiere) or the psychos who wrought havoc as the previous Ghostfaces. I just think it's cool that Panettiere played an FBI agent in this sequel.

While it was awesome to see Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrera, who looked awesome donning the Ghostface mask and robe at one point) and her sister Tara (Jenna Ortega) kick Ghostface's ass once more, the fates of the other characters who bore the brunt of the masked killer's knife was a bit amusing.

Apparently, getting stabbed multiple times (and even having a knife jammed through your throat) in a Scream film is the franchise's equivalent of receiving a paper cut. You're out for a few minutes, but casually show up at the end of the movie.

This hilarity reminds me of a memorable moment from Monty Python and the Holy Grail...shown in the tweet below. Other than the goofy moments in this latest installment (I'm guessing they're common themes in all of the Scream flicks), I can't wait for the next film!

You know there's gonna be a Scream VII.

So I saw #ScreamVI earlier today. It was an entertaining film like the previous one, though characters surviving after literally being stabbed a dozen times in the gut and chest reminds me of this #MontyPython moment... pic.twitter.com/0NIDMG5Rh4

— Richard Par (@RichTPar) March 11, 2023

Movie Review: THE BATMAN...

Earlier today, I watched The Batman in IMAX at my local AMC theater. Despite the nearly 3-hour running time, Matt Reeves' cinematic take on the Dark Knight is one of the best iterations of the Caped Crusader yet!

Seeing as how this story takes place about two years after Bruce Wayne first began to don the bat cowl, it's understandable that he would still be moody as a billionaire playboy and the masked vigilante bent on seeking vengeance against the criminals of Gotham City for the death of his parents. Robert Pattinson's performance as Wayne and his armored alter ego was perfect for this version of Batman.

In regards to the main villain, Riddler, this is where The Batman falls short of the best pre-DCEU (DC Extended Universe) bat flick, The Dark Knight. Whereas Heath Ledger's Joker was present at all the major attacks on Gotham in the 2008 film (the opening bank heist, the attempted attack on Harvey Dent at Wayne Tower, the attempted assassination of Gotham's mayor during Commissioner Loeb's funeral, the second attack on Dent inside that SWAT vehicle and the destruction of Gotham General Hospital), Paul Dano's Edward Nashton (the real person behind Riddler) only appeared in the third act of the film.

SPOILER ALERT: It appears that the Riddler who committed all of those murders were actually the followers of Edward Nashton...not Nashton himself. This puts The Batman's version of Riddler on par with Ghostface from the Scream movies. Different people wore the mask of this serial killer in each installment of the hit slasher franchise, as opposed to a singular person causing mayhem. This is why Ledger's Joker will remain as the best Batman movie villain for a while.

In terms of the rest of the cast, it was stellar. Andy Serkis gave an understated performance as Alfred Pennyworth, Zoë Kravitz was more sultry and badass as Selina Kyle than Anne Hathaway was in 2012's The Dark Knight Rises, Colin Farrell was unrecognizable (in a good way) as Oz...aka the Penguin, John Turturro was menacingly calm and collected as mobster Carmine Falcone, and Jeffrey Wright gave a valiant portrayal of Lt. James Gordon—just like Gary Oldman did as Gordon in the Christopher Nolan movies before him.

Focusing on the music, Michael Giacchino's excellent score for The Batman was just as bombastic and moody as those of Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard in The Dark Knight trilogy. In fact, I reckon that I will be ordering The Batman's orchestral score on MP3 (through Amazon) sometime this weekend!

[My laptop computer is so old (I bought it back in June of 2013) that its CD-ROM player is no longer working properly. That's why I won't buy The Batman's music score on compact disc, unfortunately.]

So once again, The Batman is an excellent addition to Warner Bros' long-running film franchise. I don't know how it will do at the box office over the long term, as I'm sure that there will be a lot of moviegoers who walk out during the film due to its epic running time, but one thing's for sure: I intend on watching The Batman at the theater again and appreciate how Matt Reeves did justice to the Caped Crusader.

Also— It may not be the Tumbler from the Nolan movies, but the new Batmobile is still pretty badass! Happy Friday.

THE BATMAN Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars. ****1/2

Movie Review: STUDIO 666...

Earlier today, I went to my local AMC theater to watch Studio 666—the campy horror flick created by and starring the Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl.

I've been a huge fan of the Foo Fighters for over 15 years, so I was curious to see how members Rami Jaffee, Taylor Hawkins, Chris Shiflett, Nate Mendel, Pat Smear and Grohl would portray themselves in this movie. I didn't expect Oscar-caliber performances by these Grammy Award-winning musicians; I just wanted to see how gnarly their (SPOILER ALERT) death scenes were going to be in this flick!

Needless to say, Studio 666 didn't disappoint in being as gruesome as possible in depicting the demonic demise of one of my favorite rock bands. And if there was ever a song that actually lasted for 40+ minutes, chances are it would probably be featured on KLOS 95.5 FM here in Los Angeles. That radio station, which is one of my favorites, plays lots of 1980s classic rock songs that seemingly go on forever...

Along with the Foo Fighters, Studio 666 also stars Whitney Cummings, Will Forte, Jeff Garlin, Leslie Grossman and Jenna Ortega...who doesn't seem to mind being typecast as the injured girl who's crawling along the kitchen floor about to be whacked by the main killer at the beginning of a horror film. (Watch the latest Scream movie.) That is all.

Images of the Day: Ghostface Artwork #2...

As promised in this entry from earlier this week, I worked on a second illustration of Ghostface from Scream and finished it yesterday! I nearly used up three black Crayola markers for the background of this drawing...and then utilized Adobe Photoshop to adjust the brightness and contrast afterwards. That is why my final image looks much crisper than how it appears on a sheet of paper (shown at the very bottom of this entry).



So which other horror movie villains should I draw next? Michael Myers from Halloween? Leatherface from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre? The psycho with the baby mask (above) from the two Happy Death Day films? That last one sounds intriguing!
Click on this image to enlarge

Images of the Day: How My Drawing of Ghostface Came to be...

Happy 2-2-22! Just thought I'd share these work-in-progress photos that I took of the Ghostface artwork I drew last weekend. As mentioned in my previous entry, I plan on drawing a second illustration of the Scream movies' iconic villain...though I probably won't start on it till this weekend or most likely next week.

Stay tuned!
Click on the image to enlarge

Artwork of the Day: Ghostface in Crayola...

Just thought I'd end this month with this artwork I drew of Ghostface over the past weekend. I intend on creating one more illustration of this classic movie villain sometime this week, but in the meantime, enjoy this artwork in all of its hand-drawn glory...courtesy of a mechanical pencil, a DuraPoint fine-tip pen and Crayola markers.

And read my review of the newest Scream movie here. Happy Monday!

Movie Review: SCREAM...

Earlier today, I went to my local AMC theater to watch Scream, the latest installment in the hit slasher film franchise that began with the original Scream movie 25 years ago.

I never saw the four previous flicks, but I didn't need to...as I watched this new film just to see how brutal Ghostface was compared to other masked cinematic killers like Michael Myers from Halloween, Jason Voorhees from Friday the 13th and even the psychotic college student wearing a baby mask in 2017's Happy Death Day. And needless to say, Ghostface did not disappoint!

I'm not going to go into the mythology of this series since I'm unfamiliar with the overarching storyline between all five movies, but I will say that Scream had an exciting young cast in which it was pretty difficult to discern which character (or characters?) was ultimately the knife-welding maniac with a black cloak, the game-show-host voice, and the Halloween ghost mask.

Apparently, what made the first Scream so successful in 1996 was its satirical take on horror flicks—with the new Scream film continuing this tradition by poking fun at so-called "requels"...movies that are a combination of reboots and sequels. Unsurprisingly, references to actual requels were made in Scream; with one of the main characters mentioning the new Halloween movies that were released in 2018 and last year, respectively, this past November's Ghostbusters: Afterlife and of course, the Star Wars sequel trilogy.

Scream also made me think of the now-concluded Supernatural TV series with its climax...during which the main villain(s) yammer on about their master plan to the captive protagonists before the villain(s) prepare to vanquish them with a knife. Supernatural was known for its villains giving bombastic speeches instead of immediately dispatching monster hunters Sam and Dean Winchester so that all the evil creatures in that universe could finally breathe freely.

Despite the villain(s) not knowing when to shut up and just get rid of the heroes already, I give Scream two thumbs-up. The brutality of Ghostface ensured that this movie would be a top-notch slasher flick that presumably lived up to the spirit of its four predecessors.

Like The Matrix: Resurrections, however, it remains to be seen if Scream was just a final and proper sendoff for the legacy characters who appeared in the previous movies...or this flick will support one of the characters' critique in that this franchise will continue indefinitely since "Hollywood is out of ideas."

We shall see!