To all who've requested a Donna update, I'm ecstatic to report that my Power Girl's recent, medical tests have conveyed superheroic results. In other words, she's doing far better than expected. Hallelujah!
Thanks for keeping us in mind, and rest assured, you've never left our minds or our hearts. God bless.
💗
Lo and behold! To commemorate and exalt the 25th anniversary of Mr. Lobo's Cinema Insomnia, James Moore of MooreMonsters has sculpted a tiki mug based on a caricature that Mr. Lobo sketched of himself.
The tiki design also references the imposing (Moai/Rapi Nui) heads of Easter Island. The detailed novelty will be finished in earthy green (with varying interior hues), with the sentient, bleary-eyed, Cinema Insomnia logo sculpted on the back.
The mugs are now in production, with an anticipated May release. (This post features images of the production line.)
To learn more about this limited-edition release (and to secure a mug per preorder), visit the OSI74 shop. The Mr. Lobo Tiki Mug is an ideal collectible to mark Cinema Insomnia's significant benchmark and a pleasing piece that one will relish for years to come.
https://osi74.square.site/shop/mr-lobo-s-cinema-insomnia/5
Nige Burton & Jamie Jones, along with distinguished, guest contributor, John (Penny Dreadful) Logan, detail Hammer's rich, marginal expanse on supernatural, parasitic lore, in the highly anticipated The Hammer Vampire Films.
The issue contains satisfying overviews on The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires, Captain Kronos - Vampire Hunter, Vampire Circus, Twins of Evil, Countess Dracula, The Vampire Lovers, Lust for a Vampire, The Kiss of the Vampire and The Brides of Dracula.
These titles may not have seized the public's wider fancy in the way that Christopher Lee's Dracula movies did, but a few are considered classics, thanks to their avant-garde angles: case in point, Captain Kronos and Vampire Circus, though The Brides of Dracula and Twins of Evil often receive ample praise for their sexy, Gothic sophistication. Nevertheless, and no matter the title, the authors handle each submission with analytical appropriation, which Hammerheads will respect.
The publicity content featured in this special edition is superb, as one can only expect from Classic Monsters, thus making this installment an exceptional, pictorial treat if ever there was.
The Hammer Vampire Films is an ideal addition to Classic Monsters' prior, Hammer tributes, making it as an unanimous must-have. Unearth it at
https://www.classic-monsters.com/shop/product/the-hammer-vampire-films-signed-art-print/
Normal is a modern-day western, with Nobody/Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul's Bob Odenkirk as its headliner. It's directed by Ben (John Wick/Meg 2) Wheatley, penned by Derek (John Wick/Nobody) Kolstad, from a concept conceived with Odenkirk. As publicized and hoped, it kicks ass in a way that would make the great, late Chuck Norris proud.
The allegorical odyssey places Odenkirk's Sheriff Ulysses (past-plagued and estranged from his wife, Penny; get it?) in winterized Normal, Minnesota, to substitute for a counterpart who's died. Ulysses expects the assignment to be low-key, and at the outset, the townsfolks do, indeed, seem normal enough, even if a trifle off-kilter in the Twin Peaks/Northern Exposure/Key West/Fargo vein.
The citizens include Jess McLeod's misunderstood Alex Gunderson (the deceased's progeny); Lena Headey's mendacious bartender, Moira; Billy MacLellan's Deputy Mike Nelson; Ryan Allen's Deputy Blaine Anderson; David Lawrence Brown's Dr. Vilie; Meagan MacArton's yarn-store owner, Mary Beth; and Henry Winkler's savvy Mayor Kibner.
After a spell, Ulysses senses something amiss and questions Normal's contradictions (investigating as would Psycho's Milton Arbogast and/or The Wicker Man's Sergeant Howie), with heightened concern spurred by a bank heist, which involves Reena Jolly and Brendan Fletcher's inexperienced but redemptive robbers. Normal's "good" people, it appears, holds Yakuza ties, monitored by Peter Shinkoda's undercover Joe, and has been drawing more than a few subversive dollars through the arrangement.
Once the truth is exposed, Normal (much like the Nobody set) gets violent (and more than in the slain-suiter end of Homer's epic poem). Its barbarity is delivered in the over-the-top, explosive, Peckinpah tradition (even if underscored by some dark camp). For the prudish, Normal would be one to evade, but for seasoned old-timers like me, who prefer their action fierce and hard-hitting, the movie is, as Winkler's Fonz would say, perfectamundo.
Odenkirk is, as usual, terrific and is a large part why the action sequences are so enjoyable. It's interesting that he's now an action hero, though one who brings an everyman quality to his neo-pulpy roles. Ulysses, therefore, works as a cathartic force, existing to fix the many grievous vices we hear about (and fear), but are unable to remedy.
I gotta say, this one sure did hit the spot, and if you have a pair of balls, it'll hit yours, too. Ten thumbs up, way up!
