Home Video Exclusives

[JohnIan101]

Best Buy - October 27th, 2017


Spider-Man Legacy Collection (available now)
Exclusive store release; 4k BD/BD combo $84.99

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CDs

"Hellyeah - Unen!able" deluxe edition with exclusive bonus concert DVD $9.99
"Hollywood Underground - Five" with exclusive bandana $11.99

"Alter Bridge - Live At The O Arena + Rarities" with exclusive limited edition 'All Access' tour laminate $14.99 (available now)

[JohnIan101]

Past Tense - Ollie Knows How To Use It Part II


Rant.

Saw the movie on opening day, a theater which is no longer in business - turned into a Wal-Mart Grocer. And died once again. I think it remains vacant to this day. Man, I saw so many flicks there.

Anyhow, had a poor experience.

A newbie was getting trained to use the register; didn't have a name tag yet. I remember; could not tell if that person was a he or a she (not joking, gender was a genuine mystery). Person was taking too long getting the customers their tickets.

Finally I get mine - rush to that particular screen, I missed all the trailers and the start of the film. When I got there they were discussing the smooched-up boathouse, post storm.

It gets better.

Projector wasn't calibrated. We were seeing the bottom and top of movie. Frackin' grand. I leave to the concession stand, tell them what's going on and rush back to my seat. We've missed at least the first five minutes.

Wouldn't see that opening until I bought the DVD on release day.

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Ready for tall drinks and drama? Fan rage!

As mentioned earlier, the book's ending is different from the film. King purists are angry with the new conclusion - a true dark feature. I love it, by the way.

Let me make the case for David Drayton's final actions. More spoilers.

The plan was to leave the grocery store; David (Thomas Jane), Billy (Nathan Gamble), Amanda (Laurie Holden), Ollie Weeks (Toby Jones), Irene Reppler (Frances Sternhagen), Dan Miller (Jeffrey DeMunn), Myron (David Jensen), Ambros Cornell (Buck Taylor) and store manager Bud Brown (Robert Treveiler).

Ollie had bags of supplies, hidden under to the final register next to the doors; food and water.

Mrs. Carmody discovered their plan and took away their grocery bags. The confrontation happens and in the chaos the gang flees the store without ANY of their cache. It was a dash to get out, before the mob killed them.

They scramble to David's jeep, Ollie gets killed by a crab-like beast. Ambros and Myron fall to spiders. Bud returns to "The Food House". David manages to retrieve Amanda's now bloody gun and the gang drives off.



An early conceptual artwork of the spider-creature by Bernie Wrightson.

This was an ultra slow precession - WE DO NOT KNOW how many hours they drove; visibility looks at about ten feet, thick. Plus they had to avoid the critters all around them. Unlike the book, David manages to get home and find a dead Stephanie (Kelly Collins Lintz), hung outside the second story in a cocoon; she had been ravaged by the spider-creatures. Dead probably from when the mist first rolled in.

David nearly looses it, but does not because he doesn't want Billy to see his mom that way; asleep in Amanda's lap.

He drives on - away from the store and home (through the remnants of Maine); the group witnesses the behemoth crossing the highway. Once again, do not how how much time had elapsed before they ran out of gas. They sit for awhile and hear an unearthly noise, huge, coming their direction. No food, no fuel, out of luck.

Their thoughts go to Ollie's gun - four bullets, five of them.



This is where the arguments happens. 'Why did he do that!!!?' Lots of people are pissed.

It all comes down to what folks believe they would do in that no-win situation. Some call for prayer, others saying they would push forward - regardless of the jeopardy; not giving up. Or just continue to wait (for what?). Many call David a murder.

At this point in the movie, the occupants do not know where they are, it's far too dense to make anything out. They could be out in the sticks with zero shelter; easy prey for the things.

Siphon gas from a nearby car? It could take too long. Try to find another car? How? Unless they know how to hot wire one on, it's pointless. Worse yet a creature inside the vehicle or underneath. More of those baby spiders or something even more horrible - remember what happened to that MP (Amin Joseph) in pharmacy.

Lets make this clear. What we saw was only a tiny sampling of the ecology of that other universe/realm. Things that horrify, terrify, forever scare. Hell, we never saw what was attached to the undulating tentacles that killed the bag boy, Norm (Chris Owen a.ka. 'The Shermanator').



An example comes from a deleted scene, not filmed. Once the bird beastie comes inside the store there was another denizen that entered, a mammoth centipede. Imagine being torn apart by such a monster or worse (crawling into your screaming mouth). This got nixed when filmmakers wanted to the Irene bug spray gag inside pharmacy instead. She would've killed this predator with insecticide.

The original story had another nasty, a huge flying, kite like creature - it does not want to be your buddy.

The escapees could not know what was truly coming their way at the time, all based on their experiences; no help had come - our world invaded by nightmares. Why would they think that oncoming commotion/rumbling wasn't another thing to be feared. Hell, it could be another one of those giant crabs that killed Ollie. It could easily puncture the car like it was made of tin. They would become the food inside a can.

That's just the way it is. And at that point it was utterly hopeless. At least they got out of store, that plate glass was just about to come down, more sooner than later. It was already cracking. The folks there could already be dead - remember we do not know how much time had passed!

I see no fault with the new ending. And when you really think about it, that's the only real way it should finish. Even Stephen King admitted he would've gone with that if he had thought of it back in 1980 ("Dark Forces" anthology; later re-printed in "Skeleton Crew", 1985). That's high praise of the creator. *nods*

David's action was that of love. Back at the store, he solemnly swore to Billy, none of the monsters would get him. They will, this was only way to save him from a fate far worse than death and the rest of people in the car. Four bullets, five people; he opts not to use a bullet on himself. He got them into this mess. *click click click click*

David stays alive to meet the demon(s) in order to save the people he cared for. A true captain.

The definition of hero - selflessness.

Talking to a friend of mine about the ending, he gave a solution I hadn't thought about.

What David should've done is have Billy on his lap, his head next to dad's belly. Put the barrel on the kid's temple; pull the trigger. The bullet would immediately kill his son and go into his stomach - dying slowly, fading away. He would be alive for awhile as he bleed to death; then shoots the others. Maybe the logistic isn't too defined, but it would've done the trick.

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"The Mist" reminds me of 1970s Hollywood.



This was a time when films were made that followed their courses. Punches weren't pulled - you're not guaranteed a happy ending. The good guys don't always win and if they do it's not a clear victory. "The French Connection" (1971 engrossing flick) is a good exemplification - you won and LOST at the same time. Audiences today have gotten so spoiled that every film must have an upbeat conclusion. AND that the villain gets redeemed. Why? Grow up, that's not real life.

While fiction, it is rooted in reality ("The Mist"). What would happen if such a disastrous debacle occurred? This is a good slice of horror cake.

Call me a pessimist, but the events feel too real. At one of my local Wal-Marts (we have two), there was this fellow I call "Preacher Guy". I would see him regularly in the parking lot; talking about how we need to surrender to God to be saved - often just talking to the air.

This is a man who would be Carmody, if it happened at that store. I have very little doubt about that. Harsh? Yes, but true. Don't roll your eyes. Fear is the enemy of reason and it wins far too often - you don't have to look too far in history to see violent examples.

A nice touch was killing the music for most of the end credits. Silence with some audio; the military convoy rolling and flying by - so messed up.

No, I'm going back...

The Sylvester Stallone movie, "Driven" (2001); pure fluff feature, but I hate the ending. They made the bad guy - okay at the end. NO! The man was a bastard, why change him? 'Oh you!'

No, frack him. And that should've been an R rated flick, not PG-13.

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The other woe is the antagonist, Mrs. Carmody (Marcia Gay Harden). 'The film has a very negative portrayal of Christians'. Not true, she's a fanatic who up until now had been ignored. Don't confused militant beliefs with general God loving Christians. This is an atheist writing this.



Now I DO see a valid argument - the predominate use of Christians as zealots in media. But as the saying goes - America Is A Christian Nation. So, that kind of portrait is like complaining that films about slavery always feature Blacks.

[JohnIan101]

Past Tense - Ollie Knows How To Use It Part III


The last issue is not having photo realistic CGI.

A good portion of the effects for "The Mist" were done for real with make-up and animatronics. That store tentacle was made, a wire pulley puppet, 1 to 1 scale. But it wasn't doing what they wanted. It was used and CGI layered over it. The bug that flew in the store was created as well, same deal.

The 'good' CGI never took me out of the narrative. Man, suspension of disbelief, if you can not do that, you missing the whole point of watching television and movies.



Above, left to right; creature designer, Greg Nicotero with Frank Darabont playing with the unassembled tentacle puppet. This was a low budget movie by Hollywood standards.

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The driving force was director/screenwriter Frank Darabont. He wanted this feature made for the past twenty years. There was a chance, earlier (for $30 million), but the producer wanted him to change the ending to an upbeat one. He said no - wanted it to be dark.

Bob Weinstein (of The Weinstein Company) gave him the go ahead, but with strings. 1) The new budget is $18 million. 2) Darabont would have to do it for free, no director's salary. He said yes. That's how this was made. Passion.

Shot in thirty-seven days, most big budget movies have double that.

"The Mist" was filmed during the hiatus of the FX cable series he was then working on "The Shield"; much of the crew from the series carried over to quickly shoot the feature, multi-cameras running at once to save time. You need to consider how little prep time this had, it was the best he could do under those constraints.

A testament of Darabont's talent to create a memorable picture.

The two disc edition features the movie the way the director wanted - black and white. Darabont wanted it played that way theatrically, but that was a hurl he couldn't overcome, but it's on the DVD. Perhaps the CGI looks better without color for those upset.

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Darabont wrote an alternate opening that wasn't filmed. We can blame or cheer actor Andre Braugher (played Brent Norton). We were going to see what happened at the laboratory; the scientists at their machines as Death rolled in.

Braugher convinced Darabont over dinner that not knowing was better. My feeling is, shoot it, but cut it out and put it on the DVD as an extra. Granted, an expensive bonus footage. I know I'm not the only one would love that.

Unfilmed opening: that storm was to blame. On that, now historic night, scientists opened a portal to a New World. The gateway was contained within a huge tank with instruments inside - examination and study.

Lightning struck the installation, the portal grew. The men and women there tried to stop it from expanding; more of the beasties were filling the containment. The tank ruptured and they flooded the laboratory, then base, then town... and beyond?

The novella has no answers - though we suspect that the nearby government facility was responsible, aptly named "The Arrowhead Project" (something to used to pierce). The town was lead to believe it was an agricultural research site.

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Didn't recognize actress Laurie Holden at the time. The year earlier she had another encounter with a mist, the feature, "Silent Hill". She played Officer Cybil Bennett. Man, she looked far more feminine in "The Mist".

Not always, but Stephen King has had bit parts in his adaptations. The director wanted him to play the Biker (with Dundee knife). But he passed. The role went to actor Brian Libby. I agree, not for him.

No offense, but I don't see King as a grizzled bad ass.

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Speculation, but I think this is what happened...

The portal is growing out of control; facility personnel are getting killed by the things tumbling into our universe unabated. Some go deep inside to find a place to hide and plot to stop it.

The nightmare began for the Draytons during that electrical storm into the next morning; discovering their boat house smashed by their neighbor's big tree. Stephanie comments about the strange fog coming down from the mountains onto the lake.

Needing supplies; David, Billy and Brent leave home and go into town for groceries. This is when the second event occured.

The huge quake. This happened AFTER the mist had over taken the town.

I'm under the impression that there were an attempt by those still alive at the facility to close that ever growing portal; big enough to allow that behemoth to walk through.

The only answer is a nuclear detonation; perhaps not designed for that purpose, but used by the survivors at Arrowhead. It could've been a containment fail-safe, manually activated. It worked, closed the portal which then cut off the supply of that universe's atmosphere - the mist. Without that 'air' those creature were dying out from our native environment.

It took a while to evaporate; kinda like those Halloween misters with color lights. It's contained in the bowl (I image that town was surrounded by hills and mountains which contained the murk), but given enough time after being turned off - it evaporated. Which is what happened in the movie.

The army, flame throwers were not used to evaporate the mist, those gear and tanks were used to kills the creatures not dying yet. Or dying poorly taking everyone around them.

Quake was not that behemoth - recall that when it walked by David's jeep, it shock with each step. The shake was a single quake then nothing, a massive explosion in the distance. And recall there was a siren blaring in town before the quake.

A notice of something big was about to happen - then silence.

The actions at Arrowhead would make a great prequel.

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Before you ask. I don't have cable, have not seen Spike's adaptation series.

I know it has gotten mixed review. Probably buy the show when it hits DVD, I'm curious.

It's been canceled. A factor could be that Spike will cease to exist come January 2018.

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A couple of non-related CDs.

"Haunted World" is a 2002 atmospheric concept album by Billy Mallery a.k.a Hover (a sound designer). Great for Halloween haunted houses.



When I first heard this CD, soundscape, it reminded me of "The Mist".

What I'd expect to hear in the murk; things, bad things - nasty things, definitely creepy.

Bought mine from Amazon, years ago. You can also find it at CD Baby. Checked, it's still for sale there, $14.99. *nods*



The other is another concept album from 1998. Can't recall when I first heard it, let alone where bought it. This is John Broaddus a.k.a. Laocoön - his album "Immersion".

An ambient sonic atmosphere, blending unique synthetic textures, rich analog waves and digital samples. Individual tracks are unified by a concept of water - immersed in a sonorous reverberation of introspection.

- from the booklet

Track three, "Liquid Prism" is what I would expect to be playing while seeing someone wandering outside, before meeting their horrible fate. Complete with distant bellows - something HUGE is out there.

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Recommendations.

I debated whether or not to write up a listing for week four. But there are five more days to Halloween - so is one more.

"The Ruins" (2008)
There are two versions, R rated and Unrated. I would go with the Unrated edition. On vacation in Mexico, two American couples are offered a chance to see something not on any map from a guy taking a break by the hotel's pool. He's part of an archaeological dig deep in the forrest - the ruins of a long lost Mayan temple. The journey is difficult, but once there, they find a silent site. Where are all the researchers? What they get instead is local villagers with bows and guns; keeping them from leaving. Force on top of the broken cathedral, the group soon discovers why. This place has been in quarantine for thousands of years by the descendants of the original Mayan inhabitants. A gory tale with ratcheted paranoia. Based on the novel of the same name by Scott Smith.
DreamWorks Home Entertainment - 2008 - NR/R

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Just Because.



Who?

A ten year old Laurie Holden as Marie Wilder with her on screen mom, Ruth (Gayle Hunnicutt) in the then big budget NBC mini-series, "The Martian Chronicles" loosely based on the Ray Bradbury novel. Aired on January 27th, 28th and 29th, 1980. Man, the fashion is very dated.

By the way, this isn't the first time William Sadler has been engulfed. Here he played handiman, Jim Grondin, but back in 1984 he played David Drayton in the 3D audio production!

Man, it's frackin' weird - actress Frances Sternhagen (Irene). I've grown up watching her on TV and movies (first time I saw her was as Dr. Lazarus in "Outland" [1981]), she's always looked elderly. Just like actor, Abe Vigoda; the 1970s ABC series, "Barney Miller" (when it first aired). He played Det. Phil Fish - looked geriatric then too.

There you go. Sway! All new Past Tenses next month. Come back here on November 9th, 2017 for a show about an entrepreneur who engages in an age old vocation.

[JohnIan101]

Best Buy - October 31st, 2017


The Dark Tower
Exclusive steelbook; 4k BD/BD/DC combo $29.99

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CD available now

"Hollywood Underground - Five" with exclusive bandana $11.99

[JohnIan101]

Best Buy - November 7th, 2017


Cars 3
Exclusive steelbook; BD/DVD/DC combo $22.99

Westworld: Season One
Exclusive steelbook; BD only $39.99

Spider-Man Legacy Collection (available now)
Exclusive store release; 4k BD/BD combo $81.99