Writer, Musician, Song and Dance Man, Entrepreneur, Punk
It has been fascinating to watch opinions evolve around Ari Aster's horror film Hereditary. It had incredible advance hype, with critics gushing about how it was the scariest, most traumatizing movie in decades. https://youtu.be/V6wWKNij_1M Meanwhile, audience response has been much more tepid. Maybe a letdown was inevitable. Although the film did well at the box office (with that much …
Continue reading "Sick Fuck pt. II – “Hereditary” Film Review"
In rallying my friends to see Ari Aster's debut feature Hereditary, which has already developed a fearsome reputation as the most traumatically terrifying film to come out in decades, I was reminded of an anecdote from my movie-watching past. Years ago, myself and my girlfriend of the time, Jen, wanted to spend a quiet evening at …
Continue reading "Sick Fuck: advanced musings on “Hereditary”"
My awesome editor came to our first meetings about my novel The Puppeteer with the expectation that it would be "Young Adult" literature, a goldmine of a subgenre within the publishing industry. Without trying to quash my vision, she explained to me what was expected of a YA title. I told her, hold the phone, I hadn't …
When the film "The Sixth Sense" took the world by storm, I started to notice within a few years a change in the way that the writer/punter class talked about their in-progress novels and scripts. "It's about this guy who does this thing, and he gets into this situation ... but then there's a twist …
I'm not easily scared, but I have a hard time watching torture. In movies and TV shows, that is. I'm pretty sure I'd be driven balls-to-the-wall insane by watching the real thing. I stopped watching "Ozarks" when torture entered the picture. I still haven't watched the scene in "The Tudors" where the court baker is …
"This is Me," the original song written for the film musical The Greatest Showman by Oscar-winners Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (of La La Land fame) just won the Golden Globe for Best Original Song, and is probably on track to win Pasek and Paul another Oscar in the same category. Here's the video: https://youtu.be/xthfyWV2sQk I don't …
At under two hours Dunkirk is short for a Nolan movie. It plays with time, perception, point of view, and drowning imagery like many of Nolan's past films (Memento, The Prestige, Interstellar, and The Dark Knight trilogy). Avclub.com had glowing things to say about it ... so why did it leave me feeling cold and unfulfilled? …
Continue reading "The Nolanator: Comparing “Dunkirk” to “Inception”"
Sometimes it doesn't matter if you're scared or not. The fun of horror movies - especially cheesy '80s horror classics - is often to be found in the "holy shit!" moments. Here are my favorite '80s "Holy Shit" horror movie moments. Cheryl turns, The Evil Dead The Evil Dead was originally titled Book of …
Continue reading "Top 3 “Holy Shit” ’80s Horror Movie Moments"
I've been obsessing over the film version of "IT" that came out recently, and have watched with delight as it has shattered box-office expectations to become a star performer for the year and the highest-grossing horror film of all time. It has a ways to go before it outgrosses The Exorcist (adjusted for inflation) but I …
INT: STATE POLICE HEADQUARTERS - CHAD'S OFFICE - DAY The massive, crumbling BOOK that was found in the Dunwich house raid is spread on the desk. Police analyst CHAD, 20s or 30s, pudgy and frumpily dressed, sits behind the desk, addressing FBI SPECIAL AGENT FRANCES "FRANKIE" MORGAN. A small POMERANIAN DOG named Pablo yips around Chad's …
PAUL GREENAMYER 