Sands of Oblivion

Sands of Oblivion ~ An interesting horror film. Dan Castellaneta, the voice of Homer Simpson, as Cecil De Mille is actually a great casting choice, unexpected and quite good. George Kennedy is also here, even though I thought he was dead, but I'm glad he's not as he brings his superior acting skills with him. Unfortunately neither of these men is in this much.

An ancient Egyptian relic is uncovered on the set of de Mille's 1923 The Ten Commandments, an undying evil is released, and hilarity ensues, fun fun fun. Apparently the shooting set was lost, and lost for a reason. Adam Baldwin is a bit wishy-washy here. Although I first saw him as Linderman in My Bodyguard, it's hard for me to see him these days as anything other than John Casey from "Chuck." Here he plays against type and I don't believe him for a second.

The monster is a rather frightening looking alligator-jawed Anubis, even though its size and shape varied wildly each time it appeared on screen. I know I watched this with the lights on, but it wasn't as scary as it could be. There were too many sequences with nothing happening and when it did happen, it was drug out. The dune buggy chase lasted forever.

This was a good old-fashioned horror movie, but would have been much better, if it was shorter and more consistent. Check it out if there's nothing else on.

The Magician

The Magician ~ This 1926 silent film is based on the 1908 novel by W. Somerset Maugham, which was in turn, based on the infamous Aleister Crowley. It was directed and adapted by Rex Ingram and starring his then-wife Alice Terry (The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and The Prisoner of Zenda). As presented on TCM’s Silent Sundays, this was a crisp clean print, something always important when dealing with the silents. It might be noted that while Ingram and Terry mentioned above had many films to their name, few survive.

A sculptress is nearly killed when her sculpture, a big scary thing, falls on her. A young surgeon miraculously saves her life and a romance blooms. Meanwhile Oliver Haddo, a magician/mad scientist played by German Paul Wegener, is seeking the means to create life. All Haddo needs is the blood of a virgin – and he sets his sights on the sculptress. The film rolls from there.

If the plot sounds a bit Frankenstein-ish, it is, and some of the imagery is reminiscent of that film, but remember, Universal’s Frankenstein is still six years away when The Magician was made. There are some quite horrific visuals here, right from the start, and especially one scene in Hell that rivals any in Haxan, complete with “Night on Bald Mountain” soundtrack. This proves that Hollywood was just as good at this kind of horror as Germany was, and they didn’t even need Lon Chaney for this one.

This rarely seen silent film is a classic and a must see. There are some gorgeous French locations (real or not, still stunning), great color tinting, an explosive ending and a wonderful score by Robert Israel. Recommended.

Despicable Me

Despicable Me ~ There's nothing new here in this computer-animated tale of a super-villain trying to stay viable with a younger more ruthless villain nipping at his heels. Complicating matters further is his insidious adoption of three young girls to help further his plans, which backfires in that he begins to care for them.

It's a simple heartwarming story, but it also works on even simpler more primal levels. Similar to the first Shrek or more accurately the old Warner Bros cartoons, it also has a fun immature hilarity in the Spy Vs. Spy vein.

Only one thing took away from the flick and that was the 'minions' of the main character Gru. These creatures, comparable to mumbling Nerf bullets, that act as the villain's henchmen are supposed to be cute and lovable. I found them annoying and abrasive and disliked the time they spent on the screen. I think I would have rather had more human, and understandable, underlings.

Doubling up their annoyance was the ad before the film that using a phone app one could translate the minions' mumblespeak. If you want to really make me angry in a movie theater, have your cellphone on throughout - something that most places frown upon, yet this film encourages it!

All that said, Despicable Me was quite enjoyable, maybe a bit rough for the sensitive kids, and maybe even more for the over-sensitive parents, but I really had fun. Recommended.

True Blood: I Got a Right to Sing the Blues

Sookie's first line in this episode, "Eric, what the f**k?" says so much. It describes accurately my thoughts on the season so far, and is also the perfect commentary on this opening scene, a very tense situation in the royal court of Mississippi. Russell is a very deadly foe indeed, and not a vampire king to be trifled with, or tricked.

This is an Alan Ball script and it shows. His care and respect of the characters is plain when compared to the cartooniness of previous episodes. Under the pen of Ball, everything rolls much better. No pun intended. And under his pen, it looks like Jason has left cartoonland and entered into his initiation as a shapeshifter, just like in the books. And by the way, speaking of the books - those of you who have read them, stop telling those of us who haven't what's going to happen. Puh -leeze. Thank you.

The title of this episode is derived from the Billie Holiday song that plays as Lorena tried to kill Bill, as instructed. It's a reminder of their jazz age romance/partnership, nicely played. Bill is certainly a sly one when he wants to be. Speaking of sly, Tara is quite the bitch, but then, Franklin does deserve it.

Everyone is sly in this episode. Eric does some startling and amazing face changes, his chameleonic performance is one of the prizes this night. The charisma bubbles from the interrogation of Sookie by Russell and later in the evil ride with Russell and Eric. It's disturbing to see that Russell (a Southern stereotype unfortunately) is also a racist, and not just against the human race. Great tension, great secrets, juicy stuff.

Other things I liked this time include the secret of Sam's family taking an exciting and unexpected turn, making all the puns of past episodes make complete sense. I also loved Jessica manipulating and glamoring (and eating) the customers at Merlotte's. I loved the slice of Lafayette's love life despite how it ended. More please, Lafayette is criminally underused.

All good stuff, all going to show it's good for a series when the creator takes the reins, even if for just an episode or two. Another great cliffhanger ensures I will be here next time. Can't wait.

Rubicon on AMC

AMC's "Rubicon" officially starts tonight with two episodes in the rocker seat next to the hit "Mad Men," a nice place for any new show.

Like "Mad Men," this is both a thinking series, and a character-driven one. From what I've seen it might take some time to warm to its quirky cast of characters but I think in the long run it might be worth it. Check it out.