Sunday, November 2, 2014
The Madness Automatons Week 4
On Sunday FXX featured an all day marathon of every Simpsons Treehouse of Horror episode in chronological order so most of my Sunday viewing consisted of this. Unfortunately I came in at the 4th installment just missing out on the Krusty doll episode. This episode features segments where Homer sells his soul to the Devil for a doughnut, Bart battling a gremlin on the side of the bus in a riff on "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" and the family discovering Mr Burns is a vampire. The final segment, a parody of "Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula" titled "Bart Simpson's Dracula" contains tons of references to other vampire films and is by far my favorite of the episode.....Rating: 3.5/5
While I have yet to see every Treehouse of Horror episode the 5th entry is my all time favorite. The first segment is a take on the Shining where Homer goes crazy and attempts to murder the family due to a lack of beer and television. I remember being in school when this aired and everyone was talking about it and quoting it the following day. The second segment features Homer accidentally creating a time machine with a broken toaster and changes the future via the Butterfly Effect so that Ned Flanders is the leader of a Dystopian society. The final segment, called "Nightmare Cafeteria", focuses on the school where the quality of meat has gotten so bad that the staff begin cooking and eating the children to increase the quality. I have to admit that Uterbraten sounds pretty good. I watch this episode every year and I love it every time I see it....Rating: 5/5
The first segment of the 6th installment is about giant advertising mascots who come to life and destroy Springfield. The second is a take on "Nightmare on Elm Street" with Willie returning to murder the children of the parents responsible for his death. This is probably my favorite segment in the episode but that's also because I'm a sucker for the Nightmare franchise. The final segment involves Homer being pulled into another dimension Poltergeist style and must escape before the universe collapses in on itself. Overall a solid episode....Rating: 4.5/5
Treehouse 7 opens with a segment where Bart discovers he has an evil siamese twin who was separated from him at birth and put up in the attic to live. I probably enjoy this one most out of the three. In the middle segment Lisa accidentally creates a small civilization of people who worship her like a god. The third segment is a take on the politics of the time with Kudos and Kang posing as Clinton and Dole so that they may be elected and take over the world. The issue with this segment is it's so grounded in the time it was made that it probably isn't going to age well....Rating: 3.5/5
Treehouse 8 features "The Homega Man", "Fly vs Fly" and "Easy Bake Coven". In the opening segment, as the only survivor of the apocalypse, Homer must do battle with mutants. In "Fly vs Fly" Bart intentionally uses Homers teleportation machine to cross breed his DNA with a fly in the hopes of becoming super human. Instead his head is swapped with the fly's body while the fly's head attaches to his body. This ones the funniest of the group though I also enjoy the final segment where Marge is found to be a witch in Old Springfield as it's the most "Halloweeney" of the group....Rating: 3.5/5
So at this point in the marathon I'm starting to feel these losing their strength. Maybe it's just because I've watched so many at this point. The first segment has Homer receiving a hair transplant from snake after he is executed for a minor infraction due to a three strikes law. Bart and Lisa are pulled into an Itchy and Scratchy cartoon where they must survive as the two cartoon characters attempt to murder them and in the final segment the family discovers that Maggie is an alien. It's not a bad episode there just isn't a standout segment to me....Rating 3/5
Outside of the middle segment where Bart and Lisa become superheroes this feels like an improvement over the previous entry. The first segment is a take on I Know What you Did Last Summer where Homer accidentally kills Ned Flanders. The final segment was my favorite. Homer accidentally brings about a Y2K apocalypse and all of the machines on Earth come to life and begin wiping out humanity....Rating: 3.5/5
After a short break from the marathon I came back in at episode 14 and I enjoyed it. In the first segment Homer kills death and gets to take his place. In the second segment Dr Frink brings his father back Frankenstein style and he goes on a rampage stealing other peoples organs. The final segment has Bart and Millhouse obtaining a stopwatch that can freeze time. A pretty good episode considering we are now at the 14th entry....Rating: 3.5/5
Episode 15 opens with a take on the Dead Zone called The Ned Zone. Ned Flanders obtains the ability to see the future and makes the mistake of changing events for the worse. In the second segment Mr Burns swallows Maggie so the Simpsons must enter Mr Burns body to retrieve her. My daughter couldn't understand why Bart would pee in Mr Burns like that. She just couldn't let it go. The final segment is a take on Sherlock Holmes with Bart and Lisa solving a ripper type murder spree. OK episode....Rating: 2.5/5
The first segment is a spoof of AI where Bart is replaced by David, a robot that his family prefers over him. The second is a take on the most dangerous game where the various men of Springfield are hunted by Mr Burns. The third segment has everyone in Springfield being transformed into the living version of their Halloween costume on Halloween. This one was a good way to round out the marathon for me even though there were still a few more to go....Rating: 3.5/5
Hocus Pocus is a movie i've seen too many times now. My daughter enjoys it a lot and therefore has watched it so many times that I have grown weary of it. I have seen this so many times in fact that I was able to notice specific lines of dialogue had been completely cut from the airing on ABC Family. While the lines I noticed added nothing to the film it's a bit annoying knowing the reason they probably cut out those few seconds here and there was to fit in an additional block of advertisements. Anyway, it's a perfectly fine family movie to watch around Halloween and there's a plethora of Halloween imagery in it....Rating: 2.5/5
Night of the Demon's is a perfect example of an 80's b-movie. It's insanely rewatchable with great effects that completely hold up in HD, plenty of sex and violence and almost all of the characters with the exception of Jay are likable. It also boasts a fantastic opening credit sequence, a great soundtrack and is a perfect movie to watch around Halloween....Rating: 5/5
I am still disappointed that Paranorman did't take home the Oscar for animated feature in 2012. The stop motion animation, voice acting and story are all great and the film carries an overall message that resonates really well.....Rating: 5/5
While not as good as the original, Night of the Demons 2 is entertaining and boasts some impressive practical effects....Rating: 3.5/5
More Full Moon killer doll shenanigans. Some dolls are buried along with a murdered girl and they return years later and begin killing teens at a house party. Overall run of the mill Full Moon fare but I will say the young actor who plays the bullied brother is actually pretty good.....Rating: 2/5
This is the first episode I have ever seen of the new Twilight Zone series and right off the bat Forest Whitaker is no Serling. The episode features Jessica Simpson as a babysitter under attack from a little girls dolls. The ending is forecast way too early and it's just not scary....Rating: 1/5
When I was 8 years old and this came out on video I loved it. Now that I'm 31 it's terrible. It's basically a rip-off of Child's Play with some elements of the Exorcist thrown in for good measure. There are some laughably stupid moments but not a good movie.....Rating: 1/5
Why does is seem like every 90's kids movie has to feature a main character who has been transplanted to another town where no one understands them and why does it seem like in every classroom setting the kids are allowed to outright bully the new kid while the teacher approves. Casper's really not a bad movie and features effects that still work well today it just happens to fall right into that mid-90's era of movies....Rating: 3/5
I love this movie. First off it boasts a less than 80 minute run time so the thing moves at such a quick pace. Second, it's got some great effects that utilize practical makeup and stop motion. Third, despite everyone being a complete asshole it's still a fun movie to watch because the hero is so incredibly likable. Fourth, the overall tone makes the film feel like this weird Grimm like fairy tale and it all works so well....Rating: 5/5
Following the events at Terminus the group comes across the pastor Gabriel and we are basically back into comic book territory. This episode does slow down a bit following the action packed premiere but still a good episode to setup plot lines to come.....Rating: 4/5
Three episodes into season 5 and there is really yet to be a dull moment. Once again it was nice to see the show follow the comic book relatively closely since I always loved the storyline where Rick confronts the cannibals....Rating: 5/5
The one that started it all. From this point forward it became a yearly tradition to sit down every October and watch the Treehouse of Horror. This one features a segment about a haunted house, a riff on To Serve Man from the Twilight Zone and a take on The Raven. Not as strong as later entries but still highly enjoyable.....Rating: 4/5
I had missed this episode on Sunday's marathon but luckily they ran it again so I was able to sit down and watch it. I love all of the segments in this one. First Homer buys a killer Krusty doll for Bart's birthday, then King Homer is taken from his home island followed by a rampage on the city of Springfield and finally Bart raises a horde of zombies while trying to bring back snowball the cat....Rating: 4/5
The Addams Family has so much going for it. The cast is spot on, the aesthetic is right and so much of the deadpan humor hits right. The major issue for me is the script. It just seems overly complicated. Still a good movie but could have been great....Rating: 3/5
Not much to say about this one. One of my top favorite horror films and I won't go a year without watching it....Rating: 5/5
I have yet to see the Producers Cut of Halloween 6 and while I am curious I am not convinced it could improve on this pile of crap. This movie is just awful. They can add in, take out and edit around whatever they want but I'm gonna guess it's like polishing a turd....Rating: 0/5
Monsters Inc is one that I don't mind having to watch incessantly. It's really well made and I find it genuinely funny and entertaing.....Rating: 4/5
Overall a better than the first one though it still suffers from the Fester storyline. The best stuff in the movie revolves around Wednesday and Pugsley....Rating: 3.5/5
Halloween 3 is a fun movie and it's good to see that fans have warmed up to it over the years. It always got a bad rap because of its title....Rating: 4/5
I wish the Halloween franchise had just ended with part 3. Part 4 has some good stuff going for it. The overall aesthetic works really well and I give them some credit for attempting to continue to storyline from part 2 but the film feels incredibly tame for a slasher movie released in 1988. Overall the movie is really plodding and not enough happens....Rating: 2.5/5
Halloween 5 picks up right where 4 left off which is strange considering the ending of 4. I rate 4 and 5 pretty much equally. 5 is a bit more fun and I always preferred Tina to Rachel but this is where the convoluted mess of the man in black begins....Rating: 2.5/5
A must watch on Halloween and one that never gets old. Every time I watch it I am entertained and am always looking for the small details that will show up in later segments of the film. If you haven't seen Trick R Treat you're missing out....Rating: 5/5
Night is actually my favorite of Romero's Dead films. I love the first 3 for different reasons but i find the original to be the most atmospheric and entertaining.....Rating: 5/5
I listened to 10 hours of episode 4 over the course of the week. Pretty awesome mix. I plan on keeping the source file for future listens
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