After enjoying Shudder’s revival of Creepshow, I’ve been looking forward to seeing what else they’d be bringing to their streaming service.  When Belzebuth came along, I’ll admit I wasn’t exactly excited about the title. At first glance it seems like yet another possession/exorcism movie.  Maybe it’s because I went into this with lowered expectations that this film managed to make an impact on me, but one thing is for certain, nothing about this film is “typical”.  Recently I has reviewed Season 1 of Evil, and I’m glad that show is still simmering in the back of my mind, because Belzebuth is a nice companion to the show with one big exception. Belzebuth doesn’t pull its punches, and I’ll say this right now: it’s not for everyone, and it’s a film that will get under your skin. Grab your crucifix and keep a bottle of holy water nearby, because this little film out of Mexico isn’t afraid to show us what evil may really look like.

When I say this film isn’t afraid, the opening sequence is a brutal glimpse at just what I’m saying. When we first meet Emanuel (Joaquin Cosio), we see him in one of his happier moments in the hospital with his wife and their newborn son.  Just as Emanuel is being called away to return to the police station, one of the nurses has seemed to have lost her mind and kills all the babies in the hospital’s nursery, including Emanuel’s son.  This is literally in the opening minutes of the film, and is a huge risk taken by the filmmakers, because in most audiences even intense horror fans will be easily be put off by this kind of violence, especially so early in the film.  I’ll be upfront; if violence towards children bothers you in any way, this film is not for you. Run as far and as fast as you can away from this one.  For me I took this sequence as a sign that this movie is definitely going to keep me on my toes, and I had to see how this was all going to end.

Let me start by saying that my daughter was all about this movie. Leading up to the watching of the film, she literally asked me almost like clockwork when we were going to watch the movie. With me there is always a bit of reservation when it comes to animated films since becoming a parent. I suppose you can call it bias, but I prefer the cartoons (as we used to call them in my day) of my childhood over the present content. I think that opinion is one many share. To Trolls World Tour’s credit, it does impart a lesson that I believe is very important in the present climate that the world is facing. To that end, I can say that I found the film to be quite enjoyable. The comedy was more of a situational variety and very clearly directed towards a younger audience, which meant that most of it went over my head, but the aforementioned lesson that the film taught was time-honored and showed the importance of diversity and tolerance. Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake reprise their roles from the 2016 original film and are joined by a host of celebrities that include Kelly Clarkson, Sam Rockwell, Rachel Bloom, and music legends Mary J. Blige and George Clinton.

Picking up after the events of the last movie, Poppy (Anna Kendrick) has been crowned queen and is looking forward a long and prosperous reign. Meanwhile, her companion, Branch (Justin Timberlake) tries to find the words to confess his feelings for her. Poppy finds her reign threatened by another tribe of trolls, the Hard Rock trolls, led by Queen Barb (Rachel Bloom), who invites her to join her on a world tour. Believing this to a sincere offer of friendship, Poppy looks forward to the Tour; however, her father, King Peppy, warns her of the danger: each tribe represents a specific genre of music (Pop, Funk, Classical, Techno, Country, and Hard Rock) with each tribe possessing a magical string that powers the specific genre of music. Years ago, the tribes lived in harmony until an uprising caused each tribe to take their string and separate from the others. Peppy believes that Hard Rock intends to steal the other tribes’ strings for the purposes of taking over all music.

In the local newspaper here in the Tampa Bay area there has been a long-running series of articles called One Tank Trips or something of that nature. The idea is that the writer would introduce you to some natural or otherwise splendor that you could visit in a relatively short distance but which you might not even know exists in your own back yard. I can't exactly make the connection, but that series kept intruding on my thoughts as I watched the first season of these little experimental Star Trek shorts. The idea appears to take us to places in the television universe of Star Trek to small events that we didn't even know were going on but which might have even had a large impact on the things we did know about. The first of them were pretty much extras on the Star Trek: Discovery DVD releases and told prequel/side stories directly related to episodes of the main show. They play pretty much like the kind of release extras you might get with any home video release. Somewhere along the way someone got the idea that these side trips could go beyond the current episode supplement idea and reach across the world of Star Trek, leaving the window open for almost any era, place, or character to show up, often in some unexpected form. An idea like that has great potential, but it's fraught with the danger of a very uneven presentation, and that's the inherent blessing and curse you will find in this single-disc DVD release of Short Treks.

The first two are called The Brightest Star and Runaway. Both appear on the second season release and tell stories that are directly a part of second season episodes. You already have them if you have that set. Calypso is also related to Discovery, but not directly to an episode. We find ourselves far into the future, where Discovery has been abandoned in deep space. It's likely been centuries since the ship had a crew, and the ship's AI has evolved and now finds itself lonely. When the ship encounters an escape pod, the man inside is rescued and brought back to health. The man, Craft, played by Aldis Hodge, participated in a war and was on his way home to his wife and family. The ship AI develops a kind of relationship with Craft, but ultimately understands it must release him to return home. If the story sounds a little familiar, it means you are up on your classic literature. It's Homer's story of The Odyssey, where the title character tries to get home after fighting in The Trojan War, chronicled in Homer's earlier book The Iliad. Odysseus must pass through many strange places and creatures before he finally makes his way home. It's actually quite well done and an unexpected emotional journey that really only flirts with the Star Trek concept.

From the creators of The Good Wife comes a show that attempts to explore if demonic possessions, miracles, and other supernatural occurrences are real or simply manifestations of the mind.  This is one of those topics that have always fascinated me, being brought up Catholic and with what some might consider an unhealthy obsession with horror.  It was a no-brainer growing up that I would gravitate to The X-Files, and over the years there have been several shows attempting to capture the dynamic of the skeptical FBI Agent Dana Scully and the true believer agent on a crusade, FBI Agent Fox Mulder.  Evil just may have the potential to be the show that explores the unknown and deliver the same quality drama, though I wouldn’t say it deserves the cult hit status just yet. Dr. Kristen Bouchard (Katja Herbers) is a clinical psychologist who is typically used by the local D.A. to testify on the sanity of a subject who is on trial.  A big deal is made about her being a climber that has reached numerous summits, but nothing is really done with this aside from making it a plot device we never get to see her put into action.  Her husband is absent from a good portion of the show because he is taking time off to climb Everest, leaving behind their four daughters in the care of Kristen.  To help Kristen take care of the girls, her mom, Sheryl (Christine Lahti) steps in to play babysitter.  The family dynamic is definitely one of the strengths of the show. Just how Kristen would be able to juggle her job and the kids on her own definitely makes it easy for the viewer to root for her and makes it easier to forgive her down the road when she makes some questionable decisions, but I’m getting ahead of myself. Then there is David Acosta (Mike Colter), a former addict who has cleaned up his life and is attempting to join the priesthood.  I loved Colter’s work as Luke Cage, and he continues to maintain a presence on screen in Evil. Though he’s not a priest yet, David works for the church; his job is to basically sort out if alleged possessions and miracles are legit (at least enough for the Vatican to allow the church to be involved). David quickly recruits Kristen to join his team, which also includes Ben (Aasif Mandvi) who works as a tech advisor for the team.

The first pilot was a fun episode, but it’s not till the show gets to the fourth episode, ROSE390, where I found myself truly engaged.  The episode has the team investigating a nine-year-old boy who has some serious violent impulses. Then there is the B story that has Kristen’s daughters getting involved with a VR horror game that may have a demon inside it.  This is a network TV show, so when this episode takes some rather dark directions, one thing was made clear: no character or storyline is safe.  These sentiments are only validated in the following episode October 31. I enjoyed these episodes immensely (I really dug the nod to The Exorcist) but one thing I realized was missing is the show is completely lacking a sense of visual atmosphere.  The show is visually too slick and polished, and it takes away from its potential.  There are genuinely some creepy moments over the course of the show that could lead to some great scares, but the lack of atmosphere takes away the impact.  Perhaps bringing in directors that are more seasoned in the horror genre could help this out; injecting just a bit of atmosphere will tap into a new audience that I’m sure would love to embrace this show.

So knowing nothing of this series as it pre-dates my existence, I did not expect to identify with it at all. I expected for the jokes to be generational, and for the subject matter to be irrelevant. Fortunately, this was not the case, as Head of the Class appears to be a series that in my opinion stands the test of time and provides invaluable life lessons that society is still very much in need of. It stars WKRP in Cincinnati’s Howard Hesseman as Mr. Moore, a substitute teacher who finds himself subbing for a high school’s Individualized Honors Program (IHP), an elite program for the kids with the highest IQs. Expected to little more than read magazines while the kids basically educate themselves, this idea does not sit well with Mr. Moore. Though a laid-back person by nature, he endeavors to do more than just sit back and pass the time, much to the chagrin of Principal Dr. Samuels, who prides himself on the program he designed as well as pushing its participants to academic excellence. Though academically advanced, these students know little of the world, as well as never venture out of their comfort zone. This is where Mr. Moore has the opportunity to make a difference by showing them that they can be more than what society expects them to be.

This philosophy is on display very early on, in the first episode, which features an upcoming dance, and the IHP students do not intend to attend. When investigating their reasons for their non-attendance, we discover evidence of self-esteem issues, parental embarrassment, and fear of rejection. Without really meaning to do so, given his own words to Dr. Samuels, “I’m only here for two days, how much damage can I do?” Mr. Moore manages to get several students to step out of their comfort zone, prompting them to overcome their very reasons for their initial refusal of the dance. This is most evident with Arvid (Dan Frischman), who overcame multiple issues and held firm to the principles that were imparted on him. Long story short, it was a very strong opening episode. It changed my feelings regarding reviewing this; it made me hopeful about the next episodes, although I was skeptical about whether the series would be able to keep this momentum going. I wondered about how many life lessons could be imparted or the methods in which Mr. Moore would utilize to impart them.