Disc Reviews

So whenever I am reviewing a movie, I try to identify positive things about the film. Even if I end up not liking the movie overall, I at least try to make sure to point out aspects that I think the film did well, a performance that was particularly strong, or a piece of dialog that resonated with me. It’s part of my process to ensure that I am delivering a balanced review. Even if the film isn’t my favorite, it still has the potential to provide some positive ray of light into my experience.  However, I’m not so sure that I will be able to do that this time around, as Guardians of Time was a film that I just couldn’t wait for it to be over. Now in the interest of fairness, it is abundantly clear that I am not the target audience for this film; that demographic appears to be steered towards the early elementary school crowd. I’d say no higher than second or third grade. Any higher and the production quality is not likely to hold up with them. Then again with this generation, given the technology that they have at their fingertips, it may not hold up with them now.

From the cover art, I’d initially hoped for a high fantasy film that I could share with my family on our next family night. Unfortunately, my daughter, who is the closest in age to the intended audience, barely made it thirty minutes in before she asked to be excused. Now this kind of request is not without precedent, as my daughter claims to have a very high standard in the things that she watches. However, any time I observe her viewing pleasures, they normally consist of her YouTube videos of other people eating. Back on point, normally when my daughter makes this request, I tell her to give the film a little more time and see if she starts to like it. This time around, I couldn’t bring myself to compel her to keep watching. Needless to say, the film clearly did not get the Nalyce stamp of approval.

Next year we hope to return to our usual 31 Nights Of Terror. This year we are going to offer you some Halloween Spotlight titles that would be a great idea to pick up for the scary season. So... we're still your October Night Mayor and here's a great idea for Halloween from our friends at Paramount/CBS/Showtime. 

“Tonight’s the night, and it’s going to happen again and again. It has to happen …”

Next year we hope to return to our usual 31 Nights Of Terror. This year we are going to offer you some Halloween Spotlight titles that would be a great idea to pick up for the scary season. So... we're still your October Night Mayor and here's a great idea for Halloween from our friends at Paramount/CBS/Showtime. 

"You're traveling through another dimension. A dimension not only of sight and sound, but of the mind. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition. And it lies between the pit of one's fears and the summit of one's knowledge. You are now traveling through a dimension of imagination. You've just crossed over into The Twilight Zone."

"For more than two decades, families across America gathered around the television every Sunday night to watch The Ed Sullivan Show. Both the country and its music underwent an enormous evolution over the course of those years, and the show not only kept up with the times, it informed them. The long and winding road of music history is full of forks, but from the 1950's through the early 70's, one stop was essential: The Ed Sullivan Show."

You can say that again. Ed Sullivan's Sunday night variety show first aired June 20th, 1948 and left the air March 28^th, 1971. Three years after the show ended, Ed Sullivan passed away, and with him one of the most iconic faces of the entertainment industry. Think about how much America and music changed throughout those years. When Sullivan first started, the music industry was dominated by big bands like those of Benny Goodman and Duke Ellington. The songs were sung by the crooners like Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby. When the show left the airwaves, the top songs were performed by Elton John, Rod Stewart, and The Rolling Stones. Along the way we picked up the likes of Elvis Presley, The Beatles, and Creedence Clearwater Revival. And Ed Sullivan was there to catch all of it live from his television stage every Sunday night for 1,068 shows. Ed Sullivan didn't just present acts that were popular. He introduced unknowns to the world, and appearing on Ed's show meant you were going places. He presented stars, but he made stars.

I must confess that I missed the boat on the original film, so going into this film I had reservations regarding my ability to properly review this film given that I haven’t seen the original. These concerns were made irrelevant by the revelation that this film, Orphan: First Kill, is actual a prequel to the first film. In this film, we get to see the events that led Leena Klammer to become what several people in the film call her: a monster. In 2007, Klammer is a 31-year-old psychiatric patient with a rare hormonal disorder called hypopituitarism that gives her the appearance of a 10-year-old child. After orchestrating an escape from the Saarne Instituute in which she manages to kill at least two people, Leena researches missing American girls and finds that she bears a resemblance to a girl named Esther Albright, and hatches a diabolic plan. However, it is not long before she realizes that in this seeming ordinary role that she has managed to slither into that she is not the only one with blood on her hands.

The predator becoming a prey was the thing that I most enjoyed about this film. Based on what I put together about the previous installment, Isabelle Fuhrman’s Leena Klammer was the thing that went bump in the night. Granted, she is still not to be underestimated here, especially given the things that she does in order to keep her cover. She even goes as far as to destroy an object of affection in order to keep her secret. That being said, she is hardly the worst person in the film in my opinion, as there is another killer willing to go to any lengths to ensure that their secret does not come out. To that end, I was treated to a cat-and-mouse game between these two, as they both attempt to gain the upper hand and rid themselves of the other without exposing their own dark secrets. This was mutually assured destruction personified.

"I realize that much of your extravagant behavior is done purely for effect. You're an artist. The public expects you to be different. But you're no longer an ascetic young poet just down from Oxford. You're a highly successful playwright at the peak of your career. You dine with royalty. You mix in the highest social circles. You're walking along a precipice. Just as long as you continue to play court jester, society will accept it. But tax their tolerance too far and they'll send you crashing from the heights to the depths of obscurity. A halo doesn't have to fall very far to become a noose."

That's the kind of advice we might expect to go out to some of our more, shall we say, eccentric celebrities of the day. In modern society we still revel in the odd choices and actions of our actors, musicians, and athletes. But sometimes they cross a line, and there's a backlash. Just take a look at the careers of Ezra Miller or Armie Hammer. There are still sacred cows, and they often change from year to year, decade to decade, and century to century. In the times of iconic playwright Oscar Wilde, it was homosexuality. In fact it took the United Kingdom to the 1960's to reverse laws prohibiting the lifestyle. But even in Oscar Wilde's time there was a certain ability to look the other way when one was so entertaining. But Wilde made the mistake of having his cake while eating it too, and it led to the downfall of one of the best playwrights in modern history.