Past Tense - The Damned And Absurd Part II


The fourth item came years after the fact on August 31st, 2010...



Wal-Mart had exclusive Blu-Ray steelbooks for "Resident Evil" (2002), "Resident Evil: Apocalypse" (2004), "Resident Evil: Extinction" and "Resident Evil: Degeneration" (2008) for $14.99 each. Each came with a bonus (exclusive) disc, a DVD; these were identical for each BD. The discs were not on each side of the steelbook. They were stacked like a CD cake box on the right side.

No menu screen shot - it just plays; "Program Alice: Activated" featurette. It has a run time of 22:39 minutes (no chapters). Which is a sneak peak for then up coming "Resident Evil: Afterlife" (2010). It's also a retrospective of the past films.

Since this exclusive wasn't really related to any specific film and it DID come with "Degeneration"; I decided to move that bonus DVD into a two disc case for "Degeneration". *shrugs*

Should be noted that lots of folks were upset. The BD titles had card stock backing with Blu-Ray details, the problem is that many of them were dinged/dented up - hidden under the sheet. There has been speculation that these exclusives were actually overstocks from Future Shop, the Canadian sister store to Best Buy. Wal-Mart slapped a sheet and called it their own.

Can not confirm. What is known is that Future Shop (now dead, swallowed by Best Buy) did make a lot of copies.

The one I bought was for "Apocalypse", kept the bonus disc and sold the steelbook (dent free) to a friend who runs a used CD/DVD/vinyl store. I lost money on that. *shrugs* That's life.

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Rant.



You pervs!

*grinning*

This was better than I expected. And I do appreciate that this is an on going franchise; number six comes out in 2016, "Resident Evil: The Final Chapter". With so many franchises just rebooting after rebooting, it's refreshing to have a film series do actual sequels.

This had three more; "Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010), "Resident Evil: Retribution" (2012) and "Resident Evil: The Final Chapter" (2017). As I understand the plan is to reboot the franchise. I am bummed, but at least we got six films over fifteen years. Not much has changed.

No news on the reboot, the last bit of info came out in April of 2020; still working on it - though the production house Screen Gems wanted it to be more faithful to the video game source.

Guys, that ready exist... the novel adaptations by S.D. (Stephani Danelle) Perry; she took the video game and turned it into an enjoyable linear story. It can be done. And is available.

This has to be said. What the frack? The outfit Alice Abernathy (Milla Jovovich) wore was so utterly impractical. How long does it take her to get dressed? I'm serious. So many layers of... crap - each more like rejects from a stripper fashion convention.

Man, each new feature, her outfits get more ridicules.



What I really love and desire with sequels is continuity - the same actors reprising their roles. So it was nice to have Oded Fehr back as Carlos Olivera. I didn't have a problem with Ali Larter as Claire Redfield (above), but it does feel pushed. Not much of a reason for it, other than... just because.

Spencer Locke as K-Mart (character, Elizabeth Jane Case) was decent as well.

Have a couple of gripes.

1) I also wished they continued to use a CGI child for computer holographic avatar, they used a real actress for the White Queen (Madeline Carroll). The CGI avatar from the first film, Red Queen (voiced by Michaela Dicker) worked quite well. Maybe it was a money and time issue.

2) I wanted Jill Valentine (Sienna Guillory) to be part of the story; talk about perfect casting. She did have a part, but was written out. Guillory absence was about availability, she was filming "Eragon" (2006) at the time. I understand.



Guillory did return for a Jill cameo during the end credits in "Resident Evil: Afterlife" (above left). She is rockin' a body suit, hugging every curve with low cut for her bosoms. Man, there was jiggle as she moved (good kind). She returned as evil Jill in "Resident Evil: Retribution" (above).

That spider device, Scarab on her chest is a reference to the video game "Resident Evil 5" (a.k.a. "Biohazard 5") (2009) where Jill gets implanted by the Red Queen and become one of the baddies.

Hell, that strained - story creditability, but I enjoyed having Michelle Rodriguez, Oded Fehr and Colin Salmon return as clones in "Retribution". My only grumble was that they didn't include Eric Mabius or James Purefoy, though they appear in archival footage.

Jill's story?



In the novelization by Keith R. A. DeCandido (from Pocket Star), Miss Valentine left the group and is now leading about a hundred survivors in Baltimore. As for Angie Ashford (Sophie Vavasseur), she's dead - killed by Alice who was at the time under the control of Umbrella.

Which would've been a good reason for her to depart her remaining friends as seen in "Extinction".

In case you're curious - which you're probably not. My favorite in the series is "Apocalypse" which is a bigger than life zombie movie. That's what I want to see; a city besiege by the undead in MASSIVE numbers. What so many ghoul films promise, but fail to deliver - "Apocalypse" did.

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Scary? But enticing Halloween costumes, wave II!



A staple of any hot Halloween shindig is a lovely lady dressed as a slutty constable, better yet when she has the body for it. Ultra generic title - "Sexy Cop Costume". And one of the cheapest outfits I've seen, less than ten bucks; one dress, hat, belt, and pair of hand cuffs.

No gun or baton??? Must be add-ons.

Man, I wish I knew who she is - the model is gorgeous.

Though I wish she didn't have the tattoo above her left breast. I've seen other costume pix of her - she has another tat over her right hip. I am not into tats.

The second costume was unexpected - sexy Hannibal Lecter. Red lipstick makes it stand out. Don't know enough about it other than she comes with a brain purse, a nice touch.

Gotta go back - the woman who modeled "Sexy Cop" also did "Maid Servant" which IS more revealing; thank you, whoever you are.