TV Binge: A Discovery of Witches (Season 1, 2018)

A Discovery of Witches (Season 1, 2018)

Cast: Matthew Goode, Teresa Palmer, Valarie Pettiford, Malin Buska, Owen Teale, Alex Kingston, Aiysha Hart, Edward Bluemel, Gregg Chillin, Trevor Eve, Louise Brealey, Elarica Johnson

Diana Bishop, historian and witch, accesses Ashmole 782 and knows she must solve its mysteries. She is offered help by the enigmatic Matthew Clairmont, but he’s a vampire and witches should never trust vampires. – IMDB

A Discovery of Witches is a fun little gem. Season 1 is neatly packed at 8 episodes and stars the talented but rather underrated (in my opinion) Matthew Goode (I mean, have you seen him in Stoker?) and the very charming Teresa Palmer as they are paired up as two magical individuals, vampire and witch who unexpectedly and much against the magical order’s rules, fall in love with each other, except maybe its not that surprising with later discoveries.

Granted its only a few episodes long for the first season, the story does have some odd execution issues that probably lean more on building a romantic foundation between the two characters a lot in the first half before bringing in the magical dangers in the second half. This execution is good and bad. Its good because the characters of Matthew and Diana become quite the connected couple and we can root for them together. The bad is that, it takes a little away from the thrills of this world of magic and keeps that part relatively more shallow and piles it on a lot more in the second half. I haven’t read the source material so maybe that is also how the book is.

While I say that, Matthew Goode and Teresa Palmer are amazing as a couple and probably will end up on couples to ship together for sure. Their characters Matthew and Diana are fascinating together even when some of the dialogue is very been there done that and maybe even a tad cringey however somehow whenever ancient vampires come into play, it all becomes a little more acceptable because they are expected to be old-fashioned. The connection they have is great on screen and they have some believable chemistry and passion between them. It also helps that Diana learns from him as he learns and protects her from the magical world that she isn’t quite familiar with. At the same time, they balance out because while she lacks control in her powers, she is also a tough character with determination not only for their love but other elements as well. TV couples that somewhat grow and better themselves together make for strong characters.

Where this season and possibly the story itself has its limits is in some relatively annoying characters who almost seem endless and have no sense of danger to them. Like the girl above playing Satu (Malin Buska) who honestly is supposed to be scary or unsettling through the constant character design of quiet and glares. Her character felt quite useless throughout although how they end the season 1 (and depending on what Season 2 does with it) might change that thought. While there are other fairly disposable characters here presented, which probably only feels that way because the season is so compact and has a good number of characters revealed but never quite having enough place to be memorable or meaningful.

This first season of A Discovery of Witches is honestly setting up a lot of foundations and giving an outline of the characters and the world and magical politics, that set the stage for whats to come in future seasons. Many shows tend to do that as something of an introductory. Luckily, there’s enough here to have Season 2 greenlit and hopefully will be released soon.

Fantasia Festival 2017: Vampire Cleanup Department (2017)

Vampire Cleanup Department (2017)

Director: Pak-Wing Yan, Sin-Hang Chiu

Cast: Babyjohn Choi, Min-Chen Lin, Richard Ng, Siu-ho Chin, Susan Shaw

Tim Cheung joins the Vampire Cleanup Department which is a secret task force for dealing Chinese vampire Goeng Si. He is instructed by his uncle Chau and he saves a female Goeng Si, Summer from her evil lord Goeng Si who buried alive her. – IMDB

For those familiar with the Mr. Vampire series decades ago and their introduction to the hopping Chinese vampires, the recent years has seen a resurgence to seemingly revive or perhaps catch Hong Kong’s own wave of the vampire popularity. In 2013, Rigor Mortis saw the debut directing work of Juno Mak get the cast of the originals and create a serious horror full of gore and symbolism. However, Vampire Cleanup Department this year aims to do the same thing but uses more of the horror action comedy angle, in turns more in vein with the original series while still taking the familiar actors. It feels like a true revival or remaster or perhaps modernized reboot of this Chinese cult favorite and not only appeal to the fans of the franchise but also grab a new generation and educate them about these hopping vampires. Screened in Cantonese, the English subtitles were done well enough to still carry the humor it wanted for the most part. We always like to make sure that the jokes will still carry well to an international audience.

Vampire Cleanup Department does many things right. It is hard to say that anymore in terms of comedy or horror. Two things the Hong Kong industry in general seems to have hit a snag as it settles for ineffective and trope-y horror or dumb and nonsensical humor. However, this movie is littered with clever jokes and puns and most of all, actors that deliver them seamlessly and perfectly. It also uses the CGI that they have access to in order to make these vampires and other action/horror effects feel more authentic and less campy. Its a re-skin and one that is done tastefully. For those who were too young when this released or never quite had access to it before or simply the new generation, Vampire Cleanup Department never forgets to educate its audience as it educates and trains its long awaited new blood. Using this story line works in this situation because we as the audience will also learn about how hopping vampires came to be, how to get rid of them as well as how this secret department originated as a new vengeful vampire is unleashed into the city accidentally.

Another great aspect of Vampire Cleanup Department is its veteran actors. Siu-ho Chin and Richard Ng are the main characters in this as they take a supporting role that links to the past. They are fun and entertaining. Siu-ho Chin contributes to a lot of the action as he is the younger of the original crew. Richard Ng brings a lot of the humor. Its truly hard to not feel nostalgic when watching them on screen as they have both been part of memorable films aside from the Mr. Vampire movies. They are the anchor of this film and despite the younger actors seeming to be a focus of the film. The scenes they are in keep the movie grounded as their opposite personalities in their characters also create a nice friction.

The one downfall of this flick truly goes to the young romance, Tim and Summer, played respectively by Babyjohn Choi and Min-Chen Lin. This factor is less to do with their performance but more with the more than familiar romance. Its sappy and redundant. In fact, the humor elements added into their budding romance makes it fun and cute however never lets us feel too invested either, at least not enough to feel emotional about their outcome. Sadly, the romance does take up a decent portion of the movie. While still successfully entertaining us for the most parts, it falls short from what the rest of the movie creates and could of been done a little more concisely.

Vampire Cleanup Department is a treat. Despite its rinse and repeat romance that doesn’t have the connection with the audience it is meant to have, everything else is done very well. It creates a beautiful balance of action, comedy and horror. It revives and reboots this Geong Si, aka hopping vampires, from the late 80s to 90s from the Mr. Vampire series. It also brings in some new blood to possibly (and hopefully) continue the franchise in a modern way. This film has found a way to keep itself self-contained while remembering to honor its predecessors by creating a link of the world the earlier movies created. It brings back the atmosphere those movies had while giving it a fresh look successfully.

What We’ll Do For Blood (The Almost Human Series #1) by C.L. Mannarino

For some of you who are new here, I love supernatural and paranormal novels. More specifically, while the vampire genre has been wildly overused, I still remain intrigued by what else is showing up. This is where this next novel comes in. What We’ll Do For Blood is the first book in a series by C.L. Mannarino.

Before we start the review, I would like to send a huge thanks to the author for sending me the novel in exchange for an honest review!

What We’ll Do For Blood
by C.L. Mannarino

In the sleepy town of Northam, Massachusetts, not everyone is who they seem to be. Take Scott Whitney, for example. A struggling high school senior, Scott wants nothing more than to have his much-divided, social-climbing family believe him when he comes to them with something important, no matter how often he disregards their rules. One night, Scott catches his father’s beautiful colleague, Maria, drinking his father’s blood in their office parking lot. When his father has no recollection of this event, and gets weaker the more he spends time with Maria, Scott turns to his mother and sister for help. When he realizes that Maria has captured their hearts and minds, as well, Scott has to find a way to believe in himself, and become more than anyone thought he was capable of, in order to stop her. But what will it cost him? – Goodreads

What We’ll Do For Blood is the first in the author’s series. For that, it definitely does set a decent stage to the characters and story. In particular, we learn quite a bit through his actions and decisions and thoughts about the person he is. Our main character is Scott and if not a little silly sometimes, because he lacks a bit of real life experience since he is only a high school guy, he definitely is brave. He emphasized the point that you can’t choose family no matter what happens. It never is too far-fetched in building up a scenario or a thought and that is especially with a genre like this one.

As mentioned before, vampire stories are overused. You don’t need me to tell you all the crazy ways they have been portrayed in books then adapted to movies and TV. For the most part, the vampires here stick pretty much to tradition. They feed and glamor and do what they have to to survive. They live in groups but hunt in solitude. They are ruthless and don’t eat human food and drink human beverages. I do appreciate sticking with the traditional portrayal. However, this story does also hit a lot predictable turns whether it is the choices or Maria, the vampire and adds in pieces that are just glimpses of supporting characters that are there.to serve a certain purpose only.

The aspect that saves it is that it is well-paced and well-written. Nothing beats a good reading like having a tasteful piece in front of us. What We’ll Do For Blood hits some super predictable plotlines and in the end, its really easy to see what it is setting the stage for. However, the setting itself is before modern times and I believe somewhere in the seventies perhaps. I cannot remember the time frame. It is mostly a vibe perhaps also because the characters themselves also live in a small community with even more small-minded people which makes Scott’s father’s recent promotion at his work so significant and why it becomes even harder to sidestep talking to the wrong people and even how Scott’s parents perceive what his son is doing.

Overall, What We’ll Do For Blood is a decent start as it is well-paced and well-written. While we can appreciate taking the traditional vampire route, it does have its predictable moments that do take away from it being exceptional. The extra of society ranking and community impressions and the likes add a little something extra to the story. It is an easy read and while does feature a high school main character, still will appeal to an older audience as it has some more violent descriptions but do note that this book seems to be intended for young adults (at least).

Podcast: The Random Chat Show Reviews The Hateful Eight and Plays Tarantino Movie Trivia!

This week on The Random Chat Show, we talk about Quentin Tarantino’s new film, The Hateful Eight. Before that, David challenges us with a Tarantino movie trivia.

Hope you enjoy!

Remember to vote in the Unity Movie Awards!  Vote HERE!

30 Days of Night: Dark Days (2010)

Back in October last year for Halloween month, I watched 30 Days of Night. You can check out the review HERE if you’d like. In a nutshell, I enjoyed the vampire hunting humans in Alaska during the 30 days in darkness.  It was intense and thrilling and had a good story plus Josh Hartnett and Melissa George was great.  Let me be clear that watching this was just because I felt it would complete whatever I saw before and I wanted to know what happened afterwards, if it was worth it or not. Usually, when a sequel goes straight to video, its not anything great.  Still, lets check it out!

Director: Ben Ketai

Cast: Kiele Sanchez, Rhys Coiro, Diora Baird, Harold Parrineau, Mia Kirshner, Troy Ruptash, Ben Cotton

Stella (Kiele Sanchez) is one of the few that survived Barrow’s attacks.  The government covers it up as a gas line leak causing the destruction of the town over the month.  However, she travels the cities trying to find anyone who listens to her, usually at the expense of everyone laughing at the idea of vampires. In one incident where she reveals several vampires in the crowd, she is asked to join a group of people: Paul (Rhys Coiro), Amber (Diora Baird) and Todd (Harold Parrineau) who have suffered losses because of vampire attacks and lead by a vampire resisting the urge of bloodlust called Dane (Ben Cotton). Together, they make plans to attack the vampire nest and murder their leader Lilith (Mia Kirshner) in order to kill them off.

Tsk tsk tsk…stealing scenes from The Descent.  Thats all I could say! 30 Days of Night was so good that it didn’t deserve this stupid sequel.  I’m not saying it should go into Shitfest, well, maybe it could.  I would have my arguments.  This one is 92 minutes, which isn’t long seeing as nowadays a lot of flicks are way longer but I split my viewing over 2 days in 3 sittings.  And, I even added working out into the mix.

I’m not complaining over nothing.  Let me justify myself.  Usually, I’m really nice and a lot of you know that because even when I say a movie is good, you all tell me it sucks.  So yes, I try to be nice and I will tell you something positive at the end.  I always find something but I’m in a rambling mood so I’m going to start with the bad.  Lets just start with saying for a vampire horror thriller.  Lets dissect those three words, ok? Vampires were ugly especially when they were shot at, the blood was so fake.  I have admitted over and over again that I’m mega chicken and easily scared and this one was not scary.  They tried to do a few jump scares but you can anticipate it miles away.  And thriller…I’m just going to shake my head and say no.  I don’t think there was much thrill in this.  Seeing as I just said it was predictable and the ending sucked (because it was stupid and so obvious how it would turn out), yeah, I wasn’t thrilled.

So, okay, not so good right now, eh? Well, the story kind of didn’t really work out either.  I felt a bit lost (maybe its just me) with this whole Lilith deal.  It sure isn’t True Blood’s Lilith, at least then I’d say you get to look at a naked chick covered in blood.  And its kind of crazy because it also makes vampires even more invincible, like even if they get burned by fire to a crisp, as long as their head is still on and you give them blood, they’ll come back to being a vampire. What?!?!? Excuse me, if thats the case, why didn’t vampire rule humans long ago…I mean if these vampires were for real, I sure as hell won’t have the skills to chop off their heads (again, thats probably just me).

*takes a deep breath* Okay, I’m a bit calmer now.

With a sequel like this that replaces our main character, Melissa George turned into this girl here called Kiele Sanchez. I’ve seen her in A Perfect Getaway which if you wanted to see her, then I’d say to watch that instead.  Although, in that one, I don’t think she strips down and has sex in the other one, whereas she does in this one.  You know, full on loud moaning.  That was a good sex scene though, haha! Hey, look, there’s your positive 🙂 And I kind of think the dude up there is alright.  He’s one of the better parts of this one.

Overall, its really not a good sequel and boring, not scary, weird story, fake vampires.  Meh, maybe I’m in a bad mood so it sounds even worse but this isn’t really worth your time.