My Thoughts On Ant Man

My Thoughts On Jurassic World

Pluto

I couldn't let this momentous occasion pass by without saying something on the subject. Today was the day the "Plutonium" powered New Horizon's spacecraft made it's closest approach of the planet/dwarf planet Kuiper Belt object Pluto. The picture above was taken the previous day before the piano sized probe zoomed past the little mysterious sphere that's parked 30 to 49 astronomical units (4.4–7.3 billion km) from our Sun.

My Thoughts On Terminator Genisys

The General Consensus Towards Terminator Genisys

I saw the trailer for Terminator Genisys several times in the cinema, online and during TV commercial breaks in the months leading up to it's release. Every time it ended I looked at my wife and pulled the "Meh", face. She mirrored my expression too. Everything in the promotional and advertising campaigns pointed to yet another Hollywood remake cashing in on a well known film property. Every truncated scene played like hyper active re visitations of the first two Terminator movie's greatest hits, but with interlopers portraying characters already established by other actors and yet here was Arnold Schwarzenegger reprising one of his most popular screen roles as the original T-800 infiltration cyborg. So was it a remake? Doubtful, with Arnie involved; if they intended to do that they would have recast that part too. So one had to assume it was a continuation of the original films, but with new "younger" people slotted in. I think they call it a soft reboot these days. J.J. Abrams Star Trek featured all new fresh faced participants to portray the Enterprise crew, but managed to find a way to write the original Spock, Leonard Nimoy into the tale, thus handing the baton over to the next generation of performers who will take up the mantle of these iconic roles in future films.

Normally, with a genre film of this type I would have tried to have made the first showing on the first day of it's release, but everything I'd seen and read about Terminator Genisys left me cold. July the 1st came and went and I still hadn't seen the fifth film in the franchise.

I scoured the net and noticed it was getting some very poor reviews across the board. (27% on Rotten Tomatoes) I found an interesting article by, Scott Mendelson contributor to Forbes who cited six reasons why this movie bombed; it can be found by clicking the following link here... Box Office: 6 Reasons 'Terminator Genisys' Bombed (In America). I'm inclined to agree with most of what he said yet my eventual review won't be passing a dour Judgement Day verdict on this film despite all the negativity surrounding it.

Before I type up my thoughts on the film I'd like to bring up those six reasons Mr. Mendelson talked about in his piece and discuss them further.

First off he mentions the bad marketing campaign despite the blessing of original creator, James Cameron. It's not the worst though; at least the Genisys advertising department put together and released enough promotional material before it's release date to let the general public know that another Terminator film was on it's way to a multiplex in the summer of 2015. Maybe some of it was poorly executed along the way, but despite it's flaws and clumsy handling people were made aware this movie existed. A truly bad marketing campaign is a nonexistent one and that has to be reserved for the film Dredd. That movie had zero build up in it's lead up to it's release. Dredd, stealthily played out in cinemas in America for several weeks then it was gone. I can't help feeling that a decent campaign with the full backing of the studio would have put it on every one's radar; this would have greatly improved it's box office takings and we would probably have had a sequel in the works already.

I don't buy Entertainment Weekly magazine, but I used to receive old copies of it from my sister in law for several years so I am very aware of it's layout and pictorial style. Mr. Mandelson pointed out how terrible the cast promotional photos were in the magazine so I had to do a search for them online so I could see just how bad there were. He was right, all the actors are in character costume; most of the shots depict them putting on their best angry face, shooting big guns in front of a drab background. I can't say I was surprised; this is pretty much the standard set up for an Entertainment Weekly photo shoot session. I've seen similar glib and uninspiring photos within the pages of this magazine in the past. Maybe if the big wigs at Entertainment Weekly arranged to send their photographers out to the sets and locations while these movies and television shows were in production the results would be more organic and less contrived.

He brings up the fact that director, Alan Taylor concentrated far too much on talking about his bad experiences working for Marvel Studios on Thor: The Dark World during the Terminator: Genisys press junkets rather than try to generate interest for the film he'd just completed. It's a pretty sad state of affairs when a "professional" can't put their sour grapes aside and concentrate on the task in hand. It's as if this project wasn't satisfying enough to take away the pains of the previous job, so how invested could he have been in it really? Shouldn't a director be really elated to have had the opportunity to work on such a legendary film franchise? To be fair to the man, I've only seen one of his interviews for Terminator: Genisys and in that one he only brought up the problem with the "creative issues" he had with Marvel and the trying time he had while directing Thor: The Dark World when he was probed by the journalist. These kinds of interviews are usually conducted in a cookie cutter sort of way. The names promoting the film usually the director and the actors, sit in a room for many hours answering preset questions that have been vetted by the studios public relations people beforehand. It's run like a well oiled conveyor belt providing a slew of entertainment media reporters one after another. They go in, have five minutes to "ask the questions" then leave only to be replaced by one more. Can you imagine how mind numbingly boring that must be? To know what questions you will be asked and have to give the same formulaic answer each and every time and make it appear like it's all natural and off the cuff? Maybe, Alan Taylor was simply exhausted and in a bad frame of mind when he went off script during that particular day of the interviewing tour. Having spoken to so many people in one day there was probably no contingency plan to limit damage control once all those outlets had their interview done and dusted and ready to go to print or air on the small screen. I'll cut him some slack, maybe he behaved perfectly after that minor glitch? Just a thought.

Apparently, there was even a tie in game at selected Imax cinema's around the country that was designed to be played while the movie was in progression. I don't think any movie studio should be creating app's for mobile devices that encourages the younglings to light up their screens in the auditorium while a film is playing. Isn't it bad enough that they text and check their social media pages on their phones every few minutes for the full running time and whole duration of the film without any consideration for anyone else who is...uh...actually there to watch the movie? Let's not give the digital junkies more distractions, please. I'm not opposed to some types of movie tie-in's, but when they undermine concentration and focus to this extent then what's the point of going?

I understand the thinking behind such ideas, it's the notion that interactive methods will "enhance" the theater going experience. For decades Hollywood has experimented with all kinds of screen formats, sound systems and 3D enhancement to draw audiences in to see their motion pictures. William Castle was the master of it. He utilized a variety of gimmicks with the technology of the time to ensure large attendances to all his B-Movies.

I'll highlight four of his most famous stunts. For Macabre he devised a plan where women pretending to be real nurses would to hand out $1,000 life insurance policies from Lloyd's of London to customers in case they should die of fright during the film.

On House On Haunted Hill he came up with the fancy name of, Emergo which involved a skeleton prop on wires housed in the ceiling of the theaters the movie played at and it would seemingly drop down and float around over the heads of the audience near the climax of the film.

Then he created the name, Percepto for, The Tingler. Castle's staff fitted small hidden electrical devices to a select number of seats in the movie house before the film was shown. Towards it's finale, there would be a planned break in the film making it seem to all in attendance as if the projector had broken down. Vincent Price would break the fourth wall and warn the audience members that one of the creatures in the film had escaped and was loose among them. The devices would then be activated to buzz at this point giving some lucky patron's hilarious bum tingles.

In 13 Ghost's he deployed his next amazing concept, Illusion-O, these were cardboard viewers that housed red and blue cellophane filters. These were given out to everyone who purchased ticket to see the film. The viewer gave you the option to see the ghost with the red portion or not see them with the blue part.

One can understand why Mr. Castle felt the need to go to such lengths; these were B-Movie flicks made on the cheap and aimed squarely at the teen demographic. Something with the Terminator name should not have to resort to such cheap devices like a game app. There are still a lot of elitist film critics out there who regard science fiction and horror movies as B-Movies, they just call them by different names these days like summer blockbusters of popcorn movies, but clearly, there have been some excellent sci-fi/horror genre movies made over the years that have risen above their B-Movie trappings and the original Terminator and perhaps it's sequel Terminator 2: Judgement Day are so well made with such a great story to tell that they have to be considered worthy equals in every way to films that are widely viewed as the great classics of the silver screen.

Secondly Mr.Mendelson brought up the bad reviews it received and how they said it was a "narrative mess, was a general bore, did little with its time-hopping scenario, and was a mere arbitrary franchise reboot with no major story twists beyond the big one that the trailers revealed." Not sure I accept this generalized consensus.

Are they talking about the same film I saw? I eventually made the decision to go and see it during the back end of it's opening week and went in with very low expectations, but I was pleasantly surprised with the effort. Surely these bad reviews Mr. Mendelson highlights for Terminator Genisys could be points that easily describe the fourth entry, Salvation? Maybe they just watched the trailer to Genisys and wrote a review from that because if I was tasked to do such a thing that's probably the conclusion I would have come to if that's all I had to work with. Like I said, the trailers were bad for this movie.

How can a film series involving timey, whimey, wibbly wobbly stuff, paradoxes, a multitude of possible future outcomes have a clear narrative? Isn't it apparent by now that the future in the Terminator universe is always in flux and fixed points in time can be constantly manipulated in a person's time stream possibly creating or destroying alternate universes both fixing and damaging what has already been established in each movie? If we're talking dodgy plot points, gaps in logic, unanswered questions and continuity errors; then yes there are, but they were also evident in the other movies in the series too which I will tackle in my comprehensive review following this.

I did not find it a general bore at all, far from it. If the two hours consisted of a bunch of Skynet AHK'S-Ariel Hunter Killer Drones and Goliath's, HK's-Hunter Killer Tanks fighting the last vestiges of the human resistance, with explosion after explosion, lot's of environmental destruction and a multitude of purple plasma bolts fired by both sides; then one could say that would be boredom personified; maybe McG, Michael Bay and all men with the emotional age of a ten year old boy would probably disagree with me on that one.

Thankfully, the makers of Genisys were not afraid to play around with the time travel concept and it was all the more fun for it; how people can say it did little with it's time hopping scenarios mystifies me; they must have been playing angry birds or some other shit on their mobile/cell phones; most probably multi tasking trying to type up their scathing reviews. This movie used more time jumping than all the other movies combined and yes the trailers and TV spots did spoil the major plot twist, but they had little time to reveal how the protagonists would successfully deal with said plot twist and how it all came to be.

If you love the original Terminator movie and are not a fanboy purist then I think you'll get a kick out of the way they revisited and recreated some of the most memorable and quoted scenes from that first film with the unexpected added twists.

The third and fourth reasons why Genisys failed to terminate the box office competition on Mr.Mendelson's list was down to timing and film classification ratings. He puts forward a compelling case. Indeed, this film had to contend with the release of Jurassic World and Inside Out. Both movies are more family friendly offerings with multi age group appeal whereas the Terminator has a reputation for containing lots of violent adult orientated material. The original Terminator, Terminator 2 Judgement Day and Terminator 3 Rise Of The Machines were rated 'R' when they were theatrically released. Then it was decided that more money could be made off of the next installment, Terminator Salvation if it catered to a wider and younger audience so they set out to create a product that would secure a PG 13 film board rating. Salvation retained the usual action set pieces everyone expects from this series, but the obscenities and scenes of a sexual nature were discarded at the scripting stage of the process. The violence was softened, with less attention to the cause and effect of physical blows and damage on the human body meaning there was very little blood and zero gore in any of the scenarios. Despite the toned down nature of this outing, the general public still regards all these films as inappropriate entertainment for children. The same decision was made to make Genisys a PG 13 too. This may well have alienated the older long term fans who were not up for another kid friendly "killer cyborg" excursion and one has to wonder how big of an audience could be out there for a film that's relies on the spectators knowledge of the 80's and 90's Cameron versions which were made long before the desired PG 13 age groups were even born. It's true, Jurassic World also had the advantage of hiring the very popular and likable Chris Pratt as their lead actor who was enjoying universal fame and critical acclaim off the back of his stand out role as Star Lord in Guardians of the Galaxy.Inside Out released on June 19th, 2015 is a 3D computer-animated comedy-light drama produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. This is the company who has found the secret formula to make massive hits all the time such as Toy Story, Up, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Wall-E and so on and so on, this was always a guaranteed hit considering it's historical pedigree and the colourful, attractive characters kids adore.

I think there is another component at play here. The insipid and uninspired Jurassic Park III (50% on Rotten Tomatoes) was launched on July 16th in 2001; the fourth installment Jurassic World was released on June the 12th, 2015 making that a 14 year gap between the two. Movie goers benefited from the longer span of time between chapters thus cleansing the palette and erasing any bad memories one may have had from the past effort. The fourth Terminator movie, the dull, noisy and vacuous Terminator Salvation (33% on Rotten Tomatoes) was released on May 21st 2009. This has only given people a six year respite between that misstep and Terminator Genisys playing in cinemas now. There was also a lackluster television series in the interim gap called Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles which also served to weaken the brand further. It's very possible that the constant recasting of the characters and bland direction the show and Salvation took weakened the myth of the story and bred Terminator fatigue in most peoples minds.

For his fifth and sixth points, Mr. Mendelson factored into his equation that the public weren't chomping at the bit for another Terminator movie and Schwarzenegger was not the box office draw he once was anymore. I'll somewhat concede to those two points he made. It's highly possible the public and the fans alike have been burned out by the subsequent decline of the Terminator brand, I know I have. Having said that, the strong box office numbers of Jurassic World prove that an old film series can make very good numbers even if the audience weren't salivating at the mouth for another one. Strangely enough the inclusion of Arnie in Genisys actually made this one feel like a proper, genuine Terminator movie. Unlike, Salvation which used a variety of practical and visual special effects to have his image do a non speaking cameo. I can't speak for anyone else, but it's become apparent to me that Arnold is an asset and an essential part of the Terminator movie franchise despite his fading star power pull and what many would say his limited acting abilities; I would go as far as saying he is the connective tissue that holds these stories together whether he's playing a bad or good cyborg in the films. Can other stories be told without him involved? I guess they can, in fact something happens towards the end of the film that gives future installments some wriggle room to pass on the Governator if they so wish. A new direction would have to shake things up significantly so that there was no reliance at all on Sarah Connor, John Connor, Kyle Reese and the T-800 characters; maybe all the time tampering could eventually screw things up so much that they are wiped from existence altogether (seems unlikely if it's true, Genisys is part one of a planned trilogy) or Skynet becomes sentient beyond any preset "Judgement Day's" we know of and comes online in a far flung future, but I think we already had those movies they were called The Matrix, Matrix Reloaded and Matrix Revolutions.

What did I personally think of the film? My review will follow.

Horror Block Subscription Box For The Month Of June, 2015

A few months ago my wife and I were viewing a plethora of those specialized subscription boxes that have become popular online over the past couple of years. There are boxes that target all kinds of interests and hobbies from sports, arts and crafts, clothes, food, wines; you name it there is probably a company out there that has created a mailing bundle to suit almost everyone. There's even one that provides survival items which could come in useful in a zombie apocalypse.

The ones we perused through were aimed strictly at science-fiction, horror, comic book and game geeks and nerds. I must admit, I was intrigued by the idea of these monthly boxed packages that contain a variety of mystery surprise items pertaining to specific themes and topics.

I know why I was drawn to the idea of these boxes. As a child I used to love the mystery of wondering what was inside one of those things they called lucky bags. A lucky bag was simply a foot high plain paper bag which contained an assortment of penny sweets/candy and a couple of novelty toy items that ranged from whistles, compasses, miniature board games, tattoo transfers and collectors cards. They were sold at our local newsagents which was the kind of old fashioned style British corner shop that sold sweets/candy from glass jars stacked on shelves from behind the counters. I'm not sure if the lucky bag was a local invention or if it was a nationwide fad, but I know the children at my school always tried to save some pocket money in order to purchase at least one of them during the school week. Sometimes you'd be happy with what was inside those bags and other times you'd be a little disappointed.

As children we went through a similar range of emotions when visiting an outdoor summer fete or a Father Christmas/Santa's grotto that provided what we call in Britain a lucky dip. If you've never experienced a lucky dip then I'll explain what they are. They are usually big barrels filled with a myriad array of wrapped toys and games which were then hidden in copious amounts of sawdust. You reached into the barrel not knowing what gift you would pull out. The organizers of these events always made sure boys and girls never ended up getting what was "considered" a toy or prize more suited to the opposite sex by having two barrels set up.

Flash forward to the near present and that wave of excitement and anticipation I experienced as a kid was re-ignited somewhat when I used to buy the SFX magazine special editions where they would provide several geeky and nerdy free gifts to give away with each issue. If they could make an item fit inside the protective polythene bag then it was included. Over the years they doled out... posters, postcards, coasters, novels, badge pins, fridge magnets, stickers, key chains, audio CD's, edibles and even an 11th Doctor Bow Tie which was very cool. Sadly, Future plc, SFX's publisher found this too costly in the current economic climate and stopped doing it. These mystery themed pop boxes seemed like the next logical progression of all those ideas that came before.

Out of all the boxes we scrutinized we decided on purchasing a three month Horror Block subscription because it seemed like the one box that would deliver goodies I would appreciate the most. According to online reviews the quantity of products varies from month to month depending on the dimension limitations of the boxes and what they decide to pack inside them. Horror Block guarantees an exclusive limited edition horror themed t-shirt in their box that you can't purchase anywhere else; they also include the latest Rue Morgue horror magazine which is published every month. Everything else that is mailed along with these two items are ultimately unknown variables until one has opened the package and studied the contents.

The website gives you updates on when they send the boxes out and sure enough, within a few days of their notification I received my Horror Block. The black shoe box shaped rectangular container replete with one bloody hand print motif on top of the lid with blood streaks and drips that continue down one of it's sides was waiting for me outside my door. I couldn't possibly open it up without my wife being present; this was a gift from her to me so I dug deep, tapped into my Jedi Master training skills and patiently waited for her to come home from work.

So what horrors lurked within the box?

I'll try to describe everything in as much detail as I possibly can.

The Horror Block is sealed with a brown masking tape that is flourished with a blood splatter pattern. The tape is there to show you that it hasn't been tampered with during transit. It's very easy to cut open with a knife. The small concealed lid flaps pull out from their slots in the sides of the box and the lid lifts upwards and back; you would find the same set up on a standard shoe box. Inscribed on the inside of the box in a bloody letter font are the words..."DON'T OPEN DEAD INSIDE" which we both found amusing and a nice little presentational touch.

The first packed item we came across on top of the pile was the t-shirt. It's black, I suspect all the Horror Block t- shirts come in black since black represents all absence of colour or the complete absorption of light and in Western cultures it's closely associated with death, mourning, the end, secrets, magic, force, violence, evil, and it makes any overweight geek or nerd look a few pounds lighter and appear sexy time elegant with the ladies.

The Shirt depicts an off white printed face with red blood droplets embedded into the design. The logo also printed in an off white reads "SURVIVE THE NIGHT". I deserve to lose geek points for not instantly recognizing what horror film this was from. My wife got it so I think she deserves the mention and recognition on here. It depicts the punk with face paint and a cross drawn on his forehead from the Purge: Anarchy.There are two cardboard labels attached to the shirt. One has the Horror Block logo on one side and on the reverse side the words scrawled in blood saying ..."A SHIRT TO MAKE YOUR SKIN CRAWL" The other label is from the online store Shirt Punch with a 10% saving off your next t-shirt purchase; on it's reverse side is a website address for the company and a statement saying "LIMITED EDITION T-SHIRTS" "4 NEW SHIRTS 24 HOURS ONLY. The suggested retail price for this shirt is $19.99 which I think sounds about right. I have bought similar shirts at comic book stores and they range from $19.99 up to $24.99. The shirt is made from heavy cotton and I would say they favour the larger figure. They are not slim fit shirts. In my case I tend to wear extra large t-shirts, but opted out of paying a little extra money to get a XXL. I took the chance that the their XL is not designed for someone who comfortably fits into a large or medium size and the gamble paid off. The shirt fits perfectly and sufficiently hides all my geeky bulges in the process, er...I meant to say my, Thor Odinson rippling geek muscles.

Click here for...Shirt Punch Website

Surprise item number one...a stuffed mini toy or plush mini toy if you are American. It's roughly around three inches tall and is the cutest depiction of H.P. Lovecraft's, Cthulhu I've ever seen. It's utterly adorable. It's emerald green with touches of pastel green on his back wings, stomach, webbed ears and head fin. He has little sewn in octopus suckers on his tail. His eyes are partially red and his mouth area has little felt tentacles which brings to mind the squid like aliens called Quarren from the Star Wars universe; the Pak'ma'ra from the Babylon 5 and the Ood from Doctor Who television shows. There is a cardboard label attached to his head which depicts a coloured drawing of the toy accompanied by the words..."Hello!". The other side of the card gives safety and washing instructions, website addresses to Nerd Block, Horror Block's other subscription package and one for, Infinifan the company who constructed this toy. We checked out their website and there is really nothing on it yet, there are no other products in this line. We came to the conclusion that this must be a newly formed company that must have made a deal with Horror Block to provide future toys for their boxes. This means you cannot buy this little guy anywhere else so it makes it a one off exclusive. I have no idea how to price this toy if you were to purchase it from a store. Mini plush toys range from $5.00 to $40.00. I'd bump this from the lower range and give it a mid range price because it's not available anywhere else as yet.

Click here for...Infinifan Website

Surprise item number two...a sage green silicone ice tray representing the Xenomorph, Facehugger eggs from the movie Alien movie series. There are four small molds and one large one built into the tray. It comes in a cellophane wrapping with a cardboard backing. It's made by a company called, Kotobukiya. I visited the website and they have licenses to make merchandise for Marvel, DC, Star Wars, Clone Wars cartoon, Alien VS Predator, Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, Capcom, Shadow of the Colossus and Halo 3. They make Anime statues, model kits and books. I think this is also a cool item, no pun intended there or was it? These will come in very handy during Halloween time or a normal day in our household. I think a lime and lemon juice mix poured into these molds will create some very striking ice cubes/shapes for drinks that will keep them staying frosty. I've seen other sci-fi themed silicone ice trays at the Think Geek and Hot Topic websites and they range from $9.99 to $16.50.

Click here for...Korobukiya Website

Surprise item number three...a ReAction three and three quarter inch fully poseable action figure of Ghost Face from the,Scream film franchise with his signature weapon of choice the kitchen knife. It's blister packed on card. The card backing has a printed photographic still of the character from the movie. If you look at the reverse side of the card it shows you the other figures you can collect in this horror series of toys. They include...Micheal Myers from the Halloween film series, Classic Freddy Krueger, not the remake version from the Nightmare on Elm Street film series, Jason Voorhees from the Friday the 13th film series, Eric Draven from The Crow movie, Pinhead from the Hellraiser film series and Sam from the Trick R Treat movie. I think the fun aspect of this figure line is that the company, Funko who produce them have purposely styled them to be retro looking. They've simplified the sculpting, and paint work. They have limited the amount of articulation too as was the case with the same sized, Kenner, Star Wars figures back in the 1970's and 1980's. I would say the quality of this figure and packaging would put it in the C10 category, that's the best rating you can appoint a collectible figure. C1 being the worst rating, clearly stating that the toy is loose with paint damage and missing all it's accessories. This blister pack is in mint condition and completely flawless, there are no dents, scratches or warping of the plastic. The card is also in mint condition, it's flat with not a rip, scratch or tear in sight, plus the hook hole is unpunched and intact. This looks like the figure was obtained directly from the manufacturer. I've seen these action figures priced from $6.00 to $12.00 on eBay and Amazon and that's not including postage and packaging. Horror Block timed this inclusion very well since the MTV, Scream television show started the week these boxes were shipped out.

Click here for...Funko ReAction Figure Line Website
Click here for...Funko Website

Lastly...the Rue Morgue horror magazine issue no 157,July 2015. The cover features a photo of Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman from the American Psycho film. It's been 15 years since it was released and director Mary Harrison takes a look back at her controversial adaptation. There are informative articles throughout it's 62 pages on the latest horror DVD and cinematic releases to special featured pieces. In this case one titled Love You To Death a new movie by Joe Dante; They Get you While You Sleep which talks about a new film exploring the real life horror of sleep paralysis and Overlook'd No More a retrospective on Kubrick's The Shining. The one item that instantly caught my eye was the one in the Classic Cut section which reminisced about BBC's horror double bills in the 70's and 80's and the reason why I got into this genre at an early age. It was a nice trek down memory lane for me. This magazine retails in Canada and the USA for $9.95. As was the case with the action figure packaging the magazine is in also in pristine condition.

Click here for...Rue Morgue Magazine Website

There is also a post card that features photo thumbnails of all the contents that came with the box with a brief and whimsical description underneath them. It looks like the silicone ice tray maker came in two varieties the one with the Alien egg sculpts I received in my package and a blue silicone ice maker tray that came with a sculpt of a profile, side view of a Xenomorph's head; The picture is partially obscured in the promotional material, but it looks like it has two large head molds and four small ones.

I have one more thing to do which is to total up the cost of all the items in the Horror Block and compare it to the subscription cost. I've tried to be conservative with the pricing on the items that have various or unknown price ranges and aired on the cheapest estimations or taken some other factors into account... rarity and condition and picked a fair price accordingly.

Exclusive T-Shirt = $19.99
Cthulhu Stuffed/Plush Toy = $15.99
Themed Silicone Ice Tray = $9.99
ReAction Ghost Face Action Figure = $12.99.
Rue Morgue Magazine = $9.95

Total = $68.91

Horror Block Subscription per month = $19.99
USA Shipping Costs = $9.50
UK & Europe Shipping Costs = $12.50
Canada Shipping Costs = $8.75

Blocks typically take 2-10 business days to arrive at their destinations. North American and UK customers generally receive their blocks within 6 days, and sometimes much faster.

I received my first Horror Block within two days of them notifying me via e-mail.

Final thoughts and conclusion.

I was very happy with the quality of all the items in the box. They were pleasant surprises. Even if stuffed/plush toys, action figures or ice trays are not your thing you can always give them away as gifts to a family member or friend who does. You could hand the stuffed/plush toy to your pet. Then there are the options; you could re-sell the things you don't want from the box on eBay, Amazon, Craig's List, your own online store or a specialist comic book collectibles shop. You may want to donate them to a worthy charitable cause; although I'm not so sure Horror Block movie and television show related memorabilia would be welcomed at the likes of Toys For Tots. The surprise items owe you nothing since the t-shirt and magazine more than cover the cost of your subscription. The other contents are bonus material. If you can spare the cash to treat someone to this kind of a gift then I would say choose wisely, make sure you know that person very well and do a thorough research on the net before picking one.

Here are a list of links for websites that offer subscription boxes that cater specifically to geeks and nerds.

Click on following links below for more information and purchasing details...

Horror Block Website
Nerd Block Website
Comic Block Website
Geek Fuel Website
Loot Crate Website
Collectible Geek Website
Power Up Box Website
Boxy Chan Website
Booty Bin Website
Gizmo Crate Website
Games Box Website

This ends my review of my first Horror Block, this is Pitch signing off last surviving member of the Nostromo.

Keep a look out for my YouTube review of this months Horror Block; I'll post details and links when it's up.

The Very Strange View Of Mr. Morrison.

This is an odd one to start my blog off with...a review and critique of another person's review which can be found by clicking the link here...TV review: Alan Morrison on Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (BBC One), but the power of my geekdom calls and I feel compelled to share my own thoughts on this one. I found a May 23rd write up on the television series Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Alan Morrison, Arts Editor of the Herald Scotland newspaper. I agree with most of the points he made in his article. I too, thought the first episode was an uneven affair and the material needed to be handled by a director deft at balancing the dark and light aspects of the story. I found it strangely silly in places and then dull and uninspiring at other times.

Mr. Morrison isn't wrong when he says most of the performances exhibit a flash of exaggeration; I would go as far as to suggest that they dangerously veer from cliched BBC costume period drama mode to the precipice of pantomime. First off he cites, Paul Kaye's cavorting, Catweazle of a street charlatan, a valid observation indeed. Mr. Kaye is allowed to go totally off the range in many of the scenes in this episode. Did we expect anything less? This is the same, Paul Kaye the creator of that vile, comedic, faux journalist, celebrity stalker personality, Denis Pennis in the 90's. He may have some dramatic small and large screen role credits to his name, but I find his idiosyncratic traits as an actor and off kilter ways of tackling characters are perfectly suited to this kind of genre fair. Mr. Morrison also mentioned, Marc Warren's faerie gentleman and Vincent Franklin's camp social climber, Drawlight. My first impression of, Marc Warren's faerie make-up and costume get up was that it borrowed too heavily from, David Bowie's, Jareth, the Goblin King character from the 1986 movie, Labyrinth, let's hope the similarities stop there because magical musical numbers may just be a stretch too far for this show. Mr. Drawlight is undeniably camp and a little raucous and puts me in mind of Doctor Who's, Dorium Maldovar the alien blue skinned 52nd century black marketeer and Game of Thrones, Vary's the eunuch. His pronunciation of "Mr. NorrELLL!" became quickly annoying, lets hope the script writers tone this kind of dialogue down a bit later in it's run. Mr. Morrison's write up even declared, Strange himself, Bertie Carvel was presented as a silly fop in the first act and I'm inclined to agree with his assessment too. Thankfully, Mr. Strange becomes a more intense and reflective fellow as the story moves forward.

I do take issue with one thing, Mr. Morrison said in his piece..."I've peeked ahead, and later fantasy sequences do improve on the opener's Doctor Who-standard set-piece as statues in York Minster began to move and talk."

Did he just slyly and disrespectfully criticize an aspect of modern Doctor Who that isn't a universally shared notion by the majority of viewers and Whovian's these days? I can only assume he was trying to say that the "standard" fantasy special effects set pieces in a typical, Doctor Who episode are a bit poor since he goes on to say that the fantasy effects in Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell get better and less "standard" as the series progresses. What "standard" Doctor Who fantasy set-piece or pieces could he be talking about when referring to the church stone statues and gargoyles that were brought to life in the first episode of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell? In said scene, Mr. Norell conjures up a spell to animate these sculptures and make them speak thus proving to the skeptical York Society of Magicians that he possessed a clear understanding of a forgotten ancient magic. I'd say it was far more reminiscent of something you'd see in a Harry Potter movie rather than liken it to something seen in Doctor Who.

I wonder if, Alan Morrison has ever watched a full episode of Nu Who? Maybe he's just a casual viewer? Could he have been thinking about those very memorable and popular Weeping Angels? If he is in any way acquainted with these Doctor Who antagonists then I'm sure he is well aware that they are quantum locked and the television viewer never sees them move or speak on screen. Part of the genius of Steven Moffat's creation is that they suddenly appear to attack the screen victim when they aren't seen. If the potential prey keeps direct eye contact with the alien stone angel sculptures and doesn't blink then the predatory alien angels are forced to stay frozen on the spot.

There was only one scene in a two part episode of Doctor Who (The Time of Angels / Flesh and Stone) in which we saw the Angels actually move in real time and this effect was not achieved on a small BBC television budget using computer animation as was the case in Johnathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, but it involved real flesh and blood female performers decked out in excellent practical effects make-up gracefully miming the slow movements and motions of an alien creature made from a stone like material. Quite outstanding visual work if you ask me and eerily beautiful.

I respect, Mr. Morrison's right to his own opinions, but why does the Art's Editor of a Scottish newspaper feel the need to put down another show in order to bolster the reputation of one that he prefers? Why is it that a writer who critiques TV series as a job appears to be a little biased and perhaps uninformed about another shows "standard fantasy set-pieces"? Yes, there are some ropey computer generated effects here and there, what show doesn't? I wouldn't call the majority of the ones in Doctor Who "standard" or use them as a prime example of something that could or needs to be improved upon when clearly there are far, far worse examples out there he could have used. Even the worst CGI sequences in Doctor Who are the result of the program makers attempts to try and extend beyond their reach and falling a bit short. That's not a bad thing in any way; you have to admire that mentality because it proves they are trying deliver on the incredible premise of the show. Was Mr. Morrison referring to classic, Doctor Who's wobbly walls, pop bottle spaceships and bubble pack monsters? I doubt he was because that would be a very one sided and an unfair thing to do since special effects and production values have come a long way since then. If we were to compare stone creature appearances in the classic series like Bok, The Ogri, Malus or Melkur comparisons or distinctions can't be made to computer generated effects because they were realized by actors in costume or brought to life by some form of practical puppeteering techniques which were quite sufficient for the budget and restrictions of that era. If he has other "typical fantasy set pieces" from modern Doctor Who in mind that he thinks are just "standard" I would have preferred a more detailed explanation so as to better understand what he had in his head when he wrote that.I could speculate all day on the meaning of that vague line and still not know if I am close to the truth.

I on the other hand, happen to think the practical make-up effects work created by British based, Millennium Effects studios far surpasses most if not all other make's ups and costumes I've seen in other genre shows past and present and I've seen a lot during my time on the Earth. I'm not going to name which ones I'm referring to because that wouldn't be fair on the people who work on those shows or the fans. Let's just say every show is not without it's own merits. When one considers the fact that, Doctor Who has half the budget of most American TV series then the visual computer generated effects provided by the British based VFX studio, The Mill and now, Milk are quite exceptional. The unique format of a show that can be "anywhere in space and time" in reality means a VFX company has the very difficult task of generating or digitally augmenting new settings, creating new creatures, spaceships for every episode from scratch. Other shows can keep reusing their fully rendered computer models for a whole season or beyond because their stories are set and bound to one time and place. In fact, I think the highest of praise should be bestowed upon all facets of production on this great British institution of a television show. Each episode is quite different from the previous one or the one that comes after it; each series/season juggles a diverse set of past, present, future and alternate stories. Therefore I happen to think the designers, set builders, costumers, props and model miniature departments have their work cut out for them every year. Anyone who casually dismisses the current special effects in, Doctor Who as "standard" and in need of improvement does a disservice to the quality of work from these UK based companies.

I guess there are critics out there like, Mr. Morrison, who are apparently blind to the truly wonderful accomplishments that the Doctor Who pre and post production houses achieve on such tight schedules and meager budgets. Conceivably, Mr. Morrison may not have watched enough genre TV shows to know the difference between the good effects and the bad ones and lumps them all together? Maybe, he just isn't a fan of the show and likes to take a jab at it whenever he can? I'm not sure why his comment rubbed me up the wrong way, but it just felt like a cheap shot and with very little substance to back it up. Just a guess, but the reason why we may not see eye to eye on this is perhaps I'm a huge Doctor Who fan and perhaps more informed about the workings of this show thus appreciating the final results of all that hard labour. Or, maybe that little out of place negative dig in his write up about another show felt like one of those vague "standard" throw away put down lines you always read on the web by "haters" and "trolls". One hopes that as he progresses and evolves as a "professional" reviewer and writer his "standard" ambiguous throw away lines will magically improve like the special effects in Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell.