Netflix Retrospective - Pacific Rim: The Black Season 1 Episodes 4-7

We’re taking another look at Pacific Rim: The Black

A Strange Halloween 4 - Happy Death Day 2U

A birthday is special, a magical time

But the forces of science have their own dark design

One push of a button from those with a brain

And you live this day again and again

A psycho in the shadows is in for the kill

But a slice of temptation will test your will

In many a dimension this day will be seen

As we do now on A Strange Halloween.

Netflix Retrospective - Pacific Rim: The Black Episodes 1-3

So, I guess it’s time to talk about Pacific Rim again. I love the two movies but I realise the sequel is divisive. I never thought the first one took itself too seriously, but a lot of people criticised the sequel in particular for being too dumb. That and killing the only returning character in the first act probably soured a few people too.

Still, giant robots fighting monsters is a concept that will never get old, especially in Japan. So we get another clash between Jaegers and Kaiju in Pacific Rim: The Black. The developers here are Greg Johnson and Craig Kyle, who also co-developed Wolverine and X-men which I covered way back. The show has a 2 season order from Netflix, though the seasons themselves are only 7 episodes, so for the next two weeks, let’s take a look at what the show has to offer.

A Strange Halloween 4 - The Addams Family (2019)

A family that’s mysterious and cooky to the end

Their antics drive their neighbours round the bend

But change can shake things to the core

You can choose to embrace it or show you abhor

A mansion of misfits, shunned by the light

Does not protect them from internal strife

A perfect reflection is yet to be seen

As we continue A Strange Halloween

After Addams Family Values, which we will be getting to, disappointed at the Box Office, the Addams family franchise was left dormant. In 2010, Illumination entertainment, best known for the blight on humanity otherwise known as the Minions, were working on creating a stop motion Addams family project, certainly an interesting take. Tim Burton was set to direct but for whatever reason it fell through. In 2013, MGM, now owners of Orion pictures, the studio behind the 90's films, announced it would be making an animated take on the cooky family.

Now, MGM has a long history of producing animation, being the studio behind the original Tom and Jerry shorts, among others but their production of late is fairly slim pickings. They’re certainly not on the same level as something like Disney or even Illumination. CG is certainly a relatively new field for them, and they were only given a $23m budget for it. Still, the film was commercially successful, earning back $203m, but it divided critics with only a 44% Rotten Tomatoes rating

So, how does this animated Addams family show up? Let’s take a look.

Disney+ Retrospective - Love, Victor Season 1 Episodes 7-10

OK, we’re a go for one last run through Love, Victor. Will Victor find himself this season? Let’s take a look.

A Strange Halloween 4: The Addams Family

It’s back, muhahahahahahahahaha

A family of misfits, who embrace the macabre

And all things that are odd, strange and bizarre

Starting in artwork but moved to the screen

It’s an opening chapter of a Strange Halloween

The Addams family was created as a series of single panel comics by artist Charles Addams in 1938. It is no stranger to adaptation, receiving a TV series in the 1960s, with a TV movie loosely attached, an animated series in 1973, and an upcoming Netflix series helmed by the guy who was born to direct this franchise, Tim Burton. But we’re looking at the cinematic releases, starting with the 1991 film. [I won’t be covering the animated sequel, as it’ll only just have released]

The film has a notoriously troubled production, with several rewrites, and directors of photography putting the film $5m over-budget. Orion Pictures, who produced several classics such as Silence of the Lambs were sadly already in financial difficulty, sold the North American distribution rights to Paramount. And for what it’s worth, they and the international distributers MGM (who would go onto buy Orion Pictures) got a good deal out of it, the film made $190m on its $30m budget.

Disney+ Retrospective: Love, Victor Season 1 Episodes 4-6

Alright, we’re back for a second look at Love Victor. Pilar’s discovered a devastating secret and Victor’s love life continues to be complicated.