Horror Central: Gravy

Sup! Today I'm going to talk about a rather...interesting horror comedy called Gravy. The plot involves a group of co-workers at a mexican restaurant ends up being taken hostage by a gang of cannibals. Its that kind of a movie but it's crazy as fuck!

To the newcomers, how I review a horror movie is usually based on a few things: The tone, the characters. the general horror atmosphere, and the killer or killers in general. I'd say spook factor but it wasn't this movie's intention and the director stated as so. I admire a director with that kind of honesty TBH.

In the beginning the movie waste no time in establishing the characters/victims. They're not just co-workers but they're clearly one big family. And the interactions shown that they have eachother's backs. I also like that they have their own distinct personality that sets them apart from one another. If I had to pick a personal favorite among the victims, mine would be the French Chef. Especially how he stick it to one of the killers towards the final act. Yeah it cost him his life but at least he took one of the killers down with him.

Of course the victims weren't perfect. They have their share of flaws but in a manner that is somewhat believable. And not irritating to a point that I wished they'd die.

As far as the killers go. For a group of cannibals, they were pretty entertaining. Through most parts of the movie I was a little disturbed by the fact that I started to like them. Even the female member of the group who reminds me of Meryl from The Walking Dead. A racist prick and doesn't give zero fucks what you think regardless of the fact. Who can go from affible to faux affible at the drop of a hat. Who comes off as a love child of Harley Quinn and Catwoman.

Overall I give the movie an B. Imagine 31 but with a much lower budget. It even has a monster clown. Who ended up being the formidable one of the group. Who is gener savvy as hell. You know how in every movie a protagonist does a badass one liner before they kill the bad guy? The monster clown was smart enough to take advantage of that.

I'd say, give the movie a watch.

My Thoughts On Riverdale: The CW Adaptation Of Archie

Going to be honest. I never had any emotional attachment to the Archie Comics. To me it was Happy Days minus The Fonz. Wow, do I feel old after saying that. But lets face facts. This isn't the first time the comic has taken a radical adaptation change. The first weird one was an animated adaptation called Archie's Weird Mysteries. Think Scooby Doo meets Buffy The Vampire Slayer. With a touch of Twin Peeks. Even in the comics it had Archie crossing over with The Punisher and The Predator....Let that sink in. Hell in some of the recent comics it had the gang battling a zombie apocalypse!!! So my thoughts in regards to the CW adaptation?

There are two directions this series can go. And one of them I hope its where the series will go. Go full on soap opera, even with it's dark tone, it shouldn't be afraid to go crazy. Throw in some possible supernatural elements, maybe even have the gang fight zombies. Go to town, series! Because the comics have done its share of crazy shit too. So don't hold back. Embrace the crazy. Or it can be as frustrating to watch as Arrow.

The bottom line. It should be it's own thing. If there is anything the Archie Comics has going for it is that it gives anyone to take whatever liberties they can out of it. Lets face it the comic lacks a core plot, other than that infamous love triangle, to begin with. You could give the entire cast super powers and it wouldn't hurt it one bit. I think Archie did just that, awhile back.

I'm actually rooting for the series to be a success. Because I want a CW adaptation of Sabrina: The Teenage Witch!

My Thoughts On The X-Men Franchise

 This is basically my off script, going through the motions, discussions on X-Men and all it's variations. And how I feel about said franchise.

I personally find the X-Men Franchise as the best example of how to modernize the superhero genre into a more science fiction setting. While the X-Characters do run around in trademark uniforms it never felt like a standard superhero series when compared to the other Marvel superhero series. If I had to describe the concept of X-Men it would be; What if super powers really exist? It also wasn't afraid to deal with some of the real life issues that were going on at the time, and still are. Especially with the Mutant gene being an allegory of race and homosexuality.

What made the X-Men work was how it didn't follow the typical Black and White moral that the superhero comics would follow. There wasn't a clear cut hero or villain, unless your name is Sinister and Apoc as far as the latter go. And a few others. Each of the X-Men had their own sense of flaws that they want to overcome as well as their own inner demons they wish to fight. No wonder why Spider-Man worked so well with them. Because Peter Parker was just a regular guy with super powers. When written by writers who know how to write him.

I remember my first exposure with the franchise. It was the 90's X-Men. That was the moment I had such a huge crush on Storm and Rogue. Then, when I've read the comics, Kitty Pryde became my favorite character. But the 90's X-Men TV series were what I've considered to be the X-Comics in animated form. No X-Series on the face of the earth will mimic the greatness of that show. Eventhough there are some parts of it that are dated.

X-Men Evolution was my second favorite. It had what was the best version of Wolverine I've seen. Eventhough Jackverine is a guilty pleasure of mine. And my all time favorite episode was the debut of X-23. While I was sad that it got cancelled at least it actually got some closure.

My third favorite was the anime version of X-Men. I thought the big bad sucked but the U-Men was pretty dangerous and I felt the anime would have been an awesome series. A shame it ended on a sequel hook that never came to pass.

I have a love/hate relationship with the movies. My favorite X-Films are probably X-2, First Class, Deadpool, and The Wolverine. I'm of the minority that I thought the films handled what the X-Franchise should have been. A stand alone franchise. Because if you connect it to the MCU then it just becomes a mess.

And that is why I felt the comics are suffering. Imagine if it were a stand alone story with no status quo? We'd be seeing the three part story structure; A beginning, a middle, and an end. And I think the franchise is suffering because of the neverending narrative.