New Doctor Who Review - Season 1. Episode 3: "The Unquiet Dead"

 Rating: 1.5/5

"The Unquiet Dead" is the least memorable episode of new Doctor Who's first series, and it's by far my least favorite. I stopped watching halfway through because I didn't like it, then picked it up later because I'd feel bad writing a review about something I didn't finish. The episodes are only 45 minutes, by the way. It's the first episode to be written by series regular Mark Gatiss, whose other episodes I don't like much either. 

New Doctor Who Review - Season 1. Episode 2: "The End Of The World"

 Rating: 3/5

"The End Of The World" is a good episode in concept. While "Rose" remained fairly grounded throughout its runtime, the follow-up has more fantastical elements. There are more aliens, it's set in the future, and it takes place on a spaceship. Going from a grounded concept to a more science-fiction-oriented story was a good move because it gave the audience a sense of possibility. Also, it's worth noting that "The End Of The World" doesn't really feature a monster for The Doctor to face, while there are several cool-looking aliens. 

New Doctor Who Review - Season 1. Episode 1: "Rose"

 Rating: 4.5/5

"Rose," being the introduction to Doctor Who's new series, shares competencies with the classic Doctor Who's first episode "An Unearthly Child." Rather than introducing the audience to concepts like the TARDIS, the Doctor, Timelords, or aliens right away, it takes a more grounded approach. "Rose" is told through the eyes of a relatable, human character. 

We are introduced to the character of Rose, a 19-year-old, working-class woman from London. She works in a shop, has a boyfriend, and lives with her mum. There's nothing exceptional about her. This is much like Ian and Barbra, who were the perspective characters in "An Unearthly Child." 

Rewatching "New" Doctor Who

 I essentially grew up watching Doctor Who. I was introduced to the classic show by my uncle, beginning with the Tom Baker story "The Robots Of Death." From there, I was hooked forever. I introduced the show to my friends, got the VHS tapes for birthdays, and was basically always thinking about the show. In fact, Doctor Who fan films were how I originally started making movies. Now, I am a professional videographer. 

Unfriended (2014) is actually great

 

When Unfriended originally came out, I was a teenager, and a pretentious teenager at that. I thought myself a film connoisseur  because I'd seen Stanley Kubrick's The Shining and liked it. Needless to say, I thought I was above the teen horror movie about a ghost that attacks its old friends via the internet.  I'm sure I saw the YMS video on Unfriended and blindly agreed that the movie was bad because YMS sounded smart. 

I watched Scream 2 and it sucked

 

Scream 2 continued the tradition of surface-level self-referential critique established in the first Scream but was not even remotely subversive. A sequel can't be subversive if it does the exact same things as its predecessor. 

By the way, Scream was not subversive. It just did everything that other slashers do except it referenced movie tropes. If Scream or Scream 2 really wanted to be subversive, then they would have done something new.

That's pretty much it! 

COWBOY.MOV

 

COWBOY.MOV Poster from FilmFreeway

My friend Sean Nelson Taylor took advantage of the early days of COVID-19 and made an entire feature-length film called COWBOY.MOV. You can stream it on Vuuzle!

I met Sean in Prague, Czech Republic. We. were both American students studying at FAMU. He directed a film called Once Upon a Time in Prague 7 and I photographed a film called Ruth Takes a Bath. 

He got some other friends we made involved in the production. My friend and former roommate Ben Champagne shot the COWBOY.MOV, and my friend Zach Gordon-Sandweiss provided food and acted in it. 

I was completely shocked to see that Sean was making a feature film, honestly. It takes so much work to make just a two-minute little short that the task of making an independent feature, to me, was insurmountable. Nonetheless, he put the work in and got results. 

This will be a film that people look back on. It's a perfect time capsule of 2015-2020 American culture. It deals with the growing cost of living, distrust in the government, and overall the culture surrounding armchair political commentators/propagators of conspiracy theories. It's also shot well and has compelling characters. 

It would also make a great double feature with The Pizzagate Massacre, another independent film from around the same time. Each of these films reflects the existential threat that is misinformation. Pizzagate is a dark take on the situation, while COWBOY.MOV has a much more hopeful outlook. 

I hope COWBOY.MOV is the impetus more many great films to come, as well as a prolific film career for my friend Sean and everyone involved in the production. 

Also, I hope when people google "COWBOY.MOV" they read this review and seek the film out. 

Troll 2 and my old YouTube channel

 I used to love so-bad-they're-good movies. I loved Manos: The Hangs of Fate, The Room, and Silent Night Deadly Night Part 2. My favorite, of course, was Troll 2.

Like many people from the mid-2000s, I discovered the film because of the infamous "Oh my Goddddd" scene. One of the early viral videos. Coincidentally, Troll 2 was shot in Utah, just like the unforgettable Wun Blee Chung Dee.

Wun Blee Chung Dee (2001)

 

Wun Blee Chung Dee poster

One of my most hipsterish pursuits is my ongoing attempt to find great obscure movies that were never released on DVD or streaming. I spend a lot of time perusing through eBay, looking for the strangest yet cheapest tapes.