Brent Lorentson

Apollo 18 at one time was meant to be one of several missions NASA had set up that would take astronauts back to the moon.  Due to the fallout from the incident involving Apollo 13 and budget cuts, all the missions were scrapped and focus shifted to the shuttle program.   Conspiracy theories have seemed to always swirl around the Apollo missions, the more famous being about whether or not man ever reached the lunar surface and whether everything we saw about the moon landing was really filmed on a Hollywood soundstage.  The Landing takes things a step further as a faux-documentary about an Apollo 18 launch that resulted in one of NASA’s greatest disasters (that never happened).
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3^rd Night is one of those films that sneaks up on you.  It’s shot on a low budget, there are no big named actors involved, and it doesn’t have a big studio backing.  It’s the kind of film that seems to be released hoping that by word of mouth or sheer luck, people will stumble upon this film.  You go to your random Wal-Mart or Target and you see these small, independent titles all the time, and I’ve always wondered how many of these are picked up as a cold buy, simply from the customer looking at the cover and reading the box. 3^rd Night is a film that is going to have to go through this struggle, but for those who do decide to pick this up or find it on some other platform, it’ll be a delightful little surprise.  It’s a 71-minute horror fest that is better than you’d expect despite having some strange flaws that left me questioning some of the film’s choices; despite that it still works.
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Over the years there have been attempts to adapt Shirley Jackson’s novel The Haunting at Hill House, but each attempt seemed to fall short of what the book accomplished. So when Netflix announced that they were going to be attempting to turn the novel into a ten-episode TV series, well, to be honest, it didn’t exactly get me excited. Helming the show is Mike Flanagan, who had some success with Netflix before when directing Gerald’s Game and is currently directing Doctor Sleep, a sequel to Stephen King’s The Shining.  It wasn’t till a couple weeks ago when a came across a trailer for The Haunting of Hill House that I was convinced that perhaps I should give this show a shot.  Once it hit the streaming service and I watched the first episode “Steven Sees a Ghost”, well, I was hooked, and what unfolded over the course of the season resulted in an exceptional television experience.
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It seems the 80’s is the go-to gimmick nowadays. With the success of Stranger Things and It, I can’t really blame the studios for cranking out the films set in this time period.  Personally my favorite film to do this would be Summer of 84. For me it’s been the film that has best captured what it was like to grow up during that time period, but Sleep No More is definitely a film that I’m glad has climbed aboard the 80’s bandwagon.  Personally what grabbed me was how the DVD boasts that it is from the creator of Final Destination.  While the sequels fell more into the guilty pleasure category for me, the first film holds up and is great, so of course I’m curious to see what he has cooked up for Sleep No More.
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When it comes to shows that simply sneak up on you and manage to suck you in, This Is Us would be a show I never saw coming nor expected to simply fall in love with.  As a show that is on network television, it stands toe to toe with the best that cable has to offer. But what is most surprising is that what sets this show apart from the rest of the pack isn’t a complex antihero or dragons; instead it is as simple as being a show that feels as real as anything I’ve seen on television in some time.  As the title would suggest This Is Us is simply about a family and the struggles and successes that come day to day, though as many of you can understand and relate, there is nothing simple about life and the constant hurdles that are thrown at us on a day to day basis.
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Is it such a bad thing to find it refreshing that Trench 11 is a horror film that takes place during World War I?  There is something about it being placed in this time period that immediately makes the familiar plot seem entirely unique.  The easiest way to describe this film is to say it’s The Dirty Dozen meets John Carpenter’s The Thing.  Seriously, if that doesn’t at least raise an eyebrow and catch your interest at least a little bit, then clearly this won’t be the movie for you.  Now, granted, this was shot on a low budget and is ambitious; while it doesn’t quite meet its full potential, Trench 11 is still a fun little flick to throw on late at night.
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I’m pretty sure at some point we’ve all played the game Truth or Dare. Pretty much it’s a game we all play in our teenage years, where the results tend to end up with either some hurt feelings, shame, or someone getting injured.  I think the worst instance I can remember in my past was on a camping trip, and it resulted in one of our friends falling into our campfire. As you’d imagine, it didn’t end well, and all our parents were pretty upset.  Over the years the game has been brought to the big screen in a variety of ways, and this incarnation of Truth or Dare puts up a noble effort by injecting a supernatural spin on the game. And the result?  I can honestly say I had a good time with this little flick.
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After two seasons it seemed as though Lucifer had finally found its niche, and I was looking forward to seeing what season three would have in store. The story of Lucifer Morningstar (Tom Ellis) as the devil who has been vacationing on Earth is a fitting guilty pleasure of mine.  This isn’t a show aiming to win Emmys; it’s simply a show that wants to indulge its audience for 44 minutes of fun, and week after week, it succeeds in doing just that.  When Season 2 left off, Lucifer was kidnapped and left in the desert, and his wings had been returned to him. This is pretty much right where Season 3 picks up, and as expected, it’s a helluva fun ride.
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