Thursday, 28 March 2019

Us - The scoop and digest

Although references are made, Jordan Peele's second feature is not a sequel, or set in the same universe as Get Out.

Lupita Nyong'o - Adelaide Wilson
Winston Duke - Gabe Wilson
Shahadi Wright Joseph - Zora Wilson
Evan Alex - Jason Wilson
Elisabeth Moss - Kitty Tyler
Tim Heidecker - Josh Tyler

Summary

Santa Cruz, 1986.

At an amusement park, a young girl leaves her family and left traumatised after coming face to face with her doppelgänger inside funhouse's hall of mirrors.

Present day.

Years later, the Wilson family (complete with a now adult Adelaide), holiday at their beach house, only to be terrorised by respective clones.

The fight for survival begins.

Ambitious nightmare

With five times the budget of previous project, Peele goes straight for the horror jugular.

What begins as a typical home invasion thriller soon escalates into something far bigger.

Theme of social hypocrisy gets unnecessarily messy, but it's still a hugely impressive effort.

Let's spill spoilers like a clumsy child would with milk.

The Tethered were created by the government to control above ground counterparts, and when experiment failed, vacant puppets were condemned below.

Adelaide's 'evil' opposite is actually the original.

After carnival scene cut to rabbit eye, Adelaide's double overpowered Red and took her place in normal society.

WOW!

She's unlikely to be nominated, but Lupita Nyong'o's dual performance deserves an Oscar.

Michael Abels' score and remixed instrumental of Luniz's I've Got 5 On It reeks of genius.

Menu serves a generous amount of claret, but to avoid 18 cert, some murders occur either off-screen or in less detail.

Atmospheric opening in theme park is fucking brilliant and psychedelic strumming made spine tingle.

Showdown between Adelaide attempting to kill Red is beautifully choreographed.

Bloodied corpses strewn around deserted town is made more striking in daylight and Tethered chain spanning for all we know across America is a sight to behold.

Issues

For me, humour (dark or otherwise), fell way short of nailing bullseye.

Before leaving the Tyler massacre, Gabe throws in a rubbish Home Alone joke, to which Adelaide scolds him for doing so.

WTF?

Family then proceed to bicker over who has the greater kill count.

Bullshit.

Josh and Kitty are shallow, self-centred assholes.

Mercifully, they're not in it for long.

Monologue of how Tethered came to be is bloated, and sequence needed more ambiguity.

Rabbits

Cute creatures dominate opening credits, but what do fluffy tails symbolise?

Red tells Adelaide that Tethered eat them raw to survive.

I prefer mine with salt and pepper.

But going deeper, I think they represent an abandoned experiment.

Amidst the big reveal, they're roaming free - just like the Tethered.

Jeremiah 11:11

"Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape, and though they will cry unto me, I will not hearken unto them."

Rather than biblical verse, 1111 is prevalent.

Examples include:

Time displayed on clock and ambulance roof and when the Wilson's stroll on sand, shadows loosely represent number.

Nice.

Red (as 'Jeremiah'), believes God is testing her to lead her people from doom.

Influences/homages

In opening scene during Hands Across America advert, we see VHS copies of C.H.U.D. and The Goonies.

Choices aren't for shits and giggles, as the former is a cult classic with subterranean creatures and we all know that t'other is primarily set underground.

While in the Tylers' house, news bulletin even states that 'they' come from the sewers.

There's also The Right Stuff, which also appeared in Captain Marvel.

Setting itself is the same as The Lost Boys, even though town in vampire classic was changed to Santa Carla.

Tyler twins (Becca/Io and Lyndsey/Nix) is surely a nod to The Shining.

Further evidence is when Jason and Zora find originals dead, as posture is rather like iconic flash of Grady twins butchered.

Aerial camera shot of moving vehicle bangs the drum of Kubrick's classic.

Jason wears Jaws tee with pride, and before shit kicks off, beach mirrors a certain scene involving Alex Kintner.

Also, our kid predominantly donning mask is perhaps reffing Friday the 13th?

Name is a bit of a coincidence, yes?

Jason and Adelaide's equivalents Pluto and Red could be refs to The Hills Have Eyes and The Shawshank Redemption respectively.

Dodgy yes, but possible?

Maybe.

Tuesday, 19 March 2019

Titles, taglines, subtitles and miscellany - Nuts and bolts

Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life and Sparklehorse - It's a Wonderful Life


If it was Christmas, I'd mention a certain James Stewart film of same name.

Oops. Just did.

Awaydays and Villagers - [Awayland]


Call of Duty: Black Ops and Legacy: Black Ops


The Police - Ghost in the Machine and Ghost in the Shell


Ash Borer - Cold of Ages and Serenity - War of Ages


Rock of Ages
Diamonds are Forever

Film and Siberia 2018 (tagline)


Fear begins (taglines)

The 13th Warrior and Hannibal Rising


The Fan
Fear strikes
Not half, but full circle.

The Ring Two
Fear comes full circle
"O"
Everything comes full circle
Saw VI
The game comes full circle
Return from Witch Mountain¹ and TV on the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain


¹Sequel to Escape to Witch Mountain (1975), not to be confused with 1995 remake.

Race to Witch Mountain remade Escape in 2009.

China Girl (Oz: The Great and Powerful), China Moon and Chinatown²


Before David Bowie's album Let's Dance, China Girl first appeared on Iggy Pop's The Idiot.

²Also an unrelated album (and song) by Thin Lizzy.

Double Impact and Final Fight: Double Impact


Even though subject matter is the same - this is still reasonably odd.


Providing you ignore 'They live within', tagline of Alien Encounter is a combination of The Fourth Kind's title and tagline's climax.

The fourth kind is abduction.

Hmmm.

Hard to Kill and Easy Money II: Hard to Kill


Hard to Die
8 is a magic number.

Ripley 8 (Alien Resurrection)
Alien 8
Jennifer 8
Sense 8
Super 8
Vigilante 8
Elliott Smith - Figure 8
Ocean's 8
Southpaw and Spacepaw


Presenting a useless piece of trivia.

Gordon R. Dickson's book is seen in 2014 horror Housebound.
The Irritating Maze and Irritating Stick


Another eyebrow raiser.

You're looking at Amiga game Alert X.
Said craft is described as being a Special Weapons Interdiction Vehicle.
So basically SWIV then.

Universally accepted as the spiritual successor to Silkworm, SWIV is also short for 'Silkworm IV', even though there were never any official sequels.
I know there's no law against having another interdiction thingy, but even so.

During intro of SNES port Super SWIV (Firepower 2000 in North America), jeep or chopper emerges from mothership Special Weapons IV.
Whatever.

Boss battle theme (also used throughout entire final stage) rips off The Terminator, when Reese and female solider encounter a HK tank.

They had some balls, right?

Technically inferior, but this is also true for Mega SWIV.

Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble! and Sonic the Hedgehog: Triple Trouble


Thanatos

Endless Ocean: Blue World (Wii)
Resident Evil: Outbreak (PS2)
Leander (Amiga)
Miscellany

Released for Spectrum, Amstrad CPC and C64, Thanatos was a scrolling shmup.

Secret of Mana (SNES)
Elinee
 mentions Thanatos in dialogue.
GBC Color exclusive Aliens: Thanatos Encounter was distinctly drab.
High Voltage

AC/DC and 1985 arcade


Crank 2: High Voltage
In the Book of Genesis, Adam munching on forbidden fruit caused the destruction of the Garden of Eden.

Okay, here's more.

Forbidden - Forbidden Evil
Forbidden Forest
Forbidden Ground
Forbidden Kingdom
Yu-Gi-Oh!: Forbidden Memories
Forbidden Planet
HK: Forbidden Super Hero
Forbidden World
Simulation, platform and racing are examples of video game genres.

Films and music can 'unofficially' become so.

Iggy Pop - Beat Em Up
Pandemic
First. Person. Shooter.
I guess this is modern warfare is a tacky ref to Call of Duty.
Another film shot entirely from a certain perspective is Hardcore Henry.

Level Up
Ubiquitous mechanic in old-school RPGs.
As a side note, RPG aka Real Playing Game is a Rutger Hauer thriller.

Shoot 'Em Up
Third Person
Order of the Garter is a chivalry honour founded by Edward III.

The second episode of Assassin's Creed Odyssey: Legacy of the First Blade adds five new worshippers, collectively known as Order of the Storm.

Phila the Tempest, Megakreon the Unbreakable, Nestor the Formidable, Augos the All-Seeing and Sophos the Broker.

Oh yeah.

Dungeons & Dragons: Order of the Griffon
Here's a bunch of random brilliance.

BDX³ (Escape Plan) and BMX


³Stands for Bedwater Prison.

Less said about sequel the better.

DMX and LBX: Little Battlers Experience


Music and Lyrics is a film starring Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore.

Words and Music are albums from Saint Etienne and Aqualung.


Zack and Miri make a Porno and Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure


You are not welcome here (District 9) and You're not welcome here (Madison County)


Tuff E Nuff (Dead Dance in Japan) and Tough Enough


Awesome.

Batman Returns
Gentlemen, start your screaming.
Daytona USA
Gentlemen, start your engines.
Spider-Man: Maximum Carnage⁴ and Flatout: Ultimate Carnage


Video game was called Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage.

Total Carnage and Rampage: Total Destruction


The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction
Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home, Orca: The Journey Home and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home


 E-1000 (P47 Aces) and T-1000 (Terminator 2: Judgment Day)


Chopper

Classic bike and film


Chop (the black Rottweiler in Grand Theft Auto V) and Bell X1 - Chop Chop


Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop
When a person says 'chop chop', it means get your ass in gear.

A chop shop is where stolen cars are disassembled and sold on for parts.

Oh yeah.

Chop Top (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2)
The fight has evolved (Arrowhead) and The hunt has evolved (The Predator) 


Born to Dance and Lana Del Ray - Born to Die


Born to Fight and Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run


Born to Kill

Film, Private Joker's helmet (Full Metal Jacket) and Channel 4 drama


Contract to Kill and Driven to Kill


Hired to Kill, Hunt to Kill and Fit to Kill


Play to Kill and Kreator - Pleasure to Kill


Dressed to Kill

Kiss and film


Taglines

400_Days
Time to kill
Robot World
Built to kill
Riot
Caged to kill
Apollo Brown - The Easy Truth, Golden Earring - The Naked Truth and The Ugly Truth


The Awful Truth
Anarchy Reigns and Nuclear Death Terror - Chaos Reigns


Call me a scatter brain, but what did the fox say in Lars von Trier's Antichrist?

Chaos reigns!
That's it.

The battle for Earth begins (Mankind's Last Stand) and The battle for eternity begins (Gods of Egypt)


The final hunt begins (Blade: Trinity), The invasion begins (Dominion) and The ultimate battle begins (Resident Evil: Retribution)


Daybreakers
The battle for blood begins
The battle for paradise has begun (Star Trek: Insurrection), The battle for the moon has begun (Darkside) and The battle for Earth has begun (Somnus)


The age of machine has begun (Cyborg X) and The fight for eternity has begun (The 5th Wave)


The nightmare has only just begun (Halloween II 1981) and The panic has just begun (Bells)


The nightmare has begun (Just Before Dawn), The end has begun (Beyond) and The war has begun (Age of the Dead)


Three - The End Is Begun
Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams and The Terminator: Dawn of Fate


Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow


Rhapsody - Dawn of Victory and Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War


Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls

Earth is the just the beginning (Alien Convergence) and The heist was just the beginning (The Vault)


Resident Evil 2 (2019) teaser
Survival is only the beginning
Back to the Future Part II
Getting back was only the beginning
F is for Family and H is for Hawk


D is for Dangerous is a track by Arctic Monkeys.

Each short in horror anthology The ABCs of Death (and its sequel), kicks off with 'A is for...', but third 2.5 only uses words beginning with M.

Getting rid of 'is'.

F for Fake and V for Vendetta


Z for Zachariah

Film and book


Boris Vallejo
Seed of Chucky and Seed of Destruction (Hellboy comic)


Seeds of Yesterday and Seeds of Deception


Seeds of Destruction and Turok 2: Seeds of Evil


Lost in Time

Bugs Bunny and Waxwork II


Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time


Final part of original live action trilogy Turtles III had halfshells vist feudal Japan, but piece of shit was completely unrelated to said arcade.

First tagged with III was NES exclusive The Manhattan Project, followed by Game Boy effort Radical Rescue.

How far would you go?

A Second Chance and Beyond Justice


Adding meat to bones.

A Hologram for the King
How far will you go to find yourself?
Continuum
How far would you go to change the past?
Felony
How far would you go to conceal the truth? 
The Talented Mr Ripley
How far would you go to become someone else.
Secret in Their Eyes
How far would you go to avenge your daughter's murder?
Death Wish 2018
How far would you go to protect your family
At Any Price
How far will you go to chase a dream?
Yashin - We Created A Monster and They created a monster (Splice)


We are going to eat you! (Zombie) and We are going to flush you! (Zombie Ass: Toilet of the Dead


If he wins, you die. (The Midnight Man) and If you look you die (Selfie from Hell)


Movie franchises can start at The Beginning.

Examples include:

Exorcist⁵, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2006 prequel to 2003 remake) and Ong Bak.

In 2005, an alternative prequel titled Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist was released.

Some assigned number (and numeral).

Missing in Action 2 and Psycho IV.

I'd never forgive myself if I didn't include video game Populous: The Beginning.

Several other variations exist, but we must move on.

The end begins (taglines)

Batman: Arkham Knight (teaser), Terminator: Salvation and Left Behind


Terminus
The end begins here
The beginning of the end (taglines)

Messengers 2: The Scarecrow, The Rift and Left Behind


Ju-On: The Beginning of the End rebooted series and The Beginning of the End is a track by Nine Inch Nails.

The Black Eyed Peas


The Beginning
The E.N.D. (The Energy Never Dies)
"Beginning of the End"
Beginning of the End is a track by Status Quo and End of the Beginning are tracks by 30 Seconds to Mars and Black Sabbath.

Leatherface
Witness the beginning of your end
Final: The Rapture
The end is the beginning
The Ending of the Beginning is the title of a dramatic piece of music in Resident Evil Code: Veronica and The Smashing Pumpkins brought The End Is the Beginning Is the End.

Entering the world of Mudvayne.

The Beginning of All Things to End
The End of All Things to Come
(Wipes brow).

Let the hunt begin

Escape and Zombie Hunters


Extending shit.

Let the insanity begin (Madhouse 2004) and Let the killing begin... (Grim Weekend)


Let the manhunt begin (The Breed 2006) and Let the slay ride begin (Black Christmas⁶)


When compared to Bob Clark's seminal original - complete bollocks.

Let the slaughter begin

Violent Shit: The Movie and Humans vs Zombies


Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood and Wolfenstein: The Old Blood


Mudvayne - The New Game and Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures


Gremlins 2: The New Batch, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus and Premier Manager 2: The New Season


The New Order

Scanners II and Wolfenstein


Can you feel it?

(What?)

The Power of course.

Now you come to mention it.

Retired darts legend Phil 'The Power' Taylor.
In forgotten puzzler The Power, emoticon Max must collect hearts in such a way that he eventually meets up with Mini.
Problems start once hero moves, as he cannot stop until brick wall is hit, so route for each maze must be carefully planned, or true love won't conquer all.
The Power and the Glory

Gentle Giant and book⁷


Adapted for the screen in 1961 and completely unrelated to 1933 film of same name.

The Rescue

1988 film and John Everett Millais painting


Ikari III and Rambo III (C64)⁸


Curiously, the only home computer version to display 'fake' subtitle.

Free Willy 3 and Frogger's Adventure


Albums with people in title include:

The Limiñanas - Shadow People
Richard Ashcroft - These People
You Me At Six - Night People
Martyn - Ghost People

Similarly, Pulp's Common People instantly springs to mind.

Ruthless People, Funny People and Ordinary People are all films.

And.

Mars People (as seen in Neo Geo Battle Coliseum)
Alien invaders debuted in Metal Slug 2.
Candy People (Adventure Time)
Candy Kingdom citizens are very gullible and explode when they're frightened.
Bart People is the final story in Bart Simpson's Treehouse of Horror #1.
To finish off.

Don't Let Him In and Don't let them in (Intruders tagline)


But Admission's tagline suggests to:

Let someone in
Let Me In is surprisingly a good remake of Let the Right One In.

Trophies in Until Dawn largely ref horror movies.

For some reason, Let eM In and You Let the Wrong One In! seem relevant.

(Ahem).

Now check this out.

Resident Evil 2 (2019)
When Claire accesses the Interrogation Room, Let Me Out is written on one-way mirror.
Yeah, I'm brilliant.