Top 6 Horror Movies of the 1940's: The Rise of the Psychological Thriller, and the Beginning of the End for Universal Monsters

Today, I look at the decade which bridged the Golden Age of Gothic Horror with the Atomic Age of the 1950's. It's a bit of a mixed bag, so this list will be a bit shorter than previous ones.

Criteria:
Horror film or film with many horroresque elements
Made between 1940-1949

But before that, a little backstory...
As the 1930's drew to a close, horror was already growing kind of stale. Despite some great new actors emerging, most notably Lon Chaney, Jr. (who, like his father, became a horror icon), most of the trends of the 1930's had been tired out. It was now that they started doing a crossover movies, such as Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman or even comedy crossovers like Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. It marked a time when a film like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was getting a remake, one that basically just rehashes the same story without the same grit or shock value (after all, it came from the director of The Wizard of Oz). It was also now that the genre began distancing itself from Gothic literature and more towards the horrors of the mind.
     Producer and writer Val Lewton produced what is considered one of the best films ever made: Cat People, a psychological thriller with hints of the supernatural. He also produced some other great films, more focused on human killers or nontraditional subject matter for horror films, such as an adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's The Body Snatcher, and I Walked with a Zombie. These were produced outside Universal Studios, rather being made by RKO Pictures, a smaller company, although these films brought them some good revenue. The same studio had produced some other big hits, such as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, King Kong, and Citizen Kane, which are still considered classics today, the latter two being considered in the top twenty films ever made.
     

The List:

6. Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948): Despite the title suggesting otherwise, there is more than just Frankenstein's Monster featured in this film. Dracula and the Wolf Man also appear. This marked the beginning of the "Abbott and Costello Meet (Blank)" cycle of horror and the end of the Golden Age of the Universal monsters movies. It's obviously played more for campy laughs than actually intending to scare the audience, and it's very dated, but it's ultimately still enjoyable as a tribute to a dying genre.



5. The Leopard Man (1943): Val Lewton produced this chilling movie that was the first film portrayal of a realistic serial killer, but that term wasn't used yet. This film is especially dark for a film made at the beginning of the 1940's, one of the tamest decades in cinema. The main performance Dennis O'Keefe is sympathetic and likable. Like other Lewton-made psychological thrillers, there's a strange connection with animals, which motivates the killer in some way, and that adds a layer of uneasiness to this mystery story: you're not exactly sure if the leopard at the zoo has gotten lose and begun mauling women or if there is a killer trying to use the leopard's escape as a scapegoat to cover his tracks.



4. I Walked with a Zombie (1943): Another exceptional Lewton production. This time, more focused on the supernatural subculture of Haitian voodoo. Possibly the best of the original zombie films, it's got some great performances by James Ellison, Tom Conway, and Frances Dee. It's sad to think this is sort of a forgotten classic, and I think more people should check it out, just remember: this isn't the same type of zombie that's prevalent today.



3. Dead of Night (1945): This British anthology film is one of the better in the subgenre, and has one of the best "living dummy" stories ever told, starring Michael Redgrave. This segment is probably why the film is so well-remembered. It was even censored when it was originally released in the U.S. because of one of the segments involves a children's Christmas party being attacked by a ghost. Even today, it's considered one of the eeriest films of the decade.



2. Cat People (1942): Another Val Lewton film (I promise, it's the last one), and it's his masterpiece. A dark psychological horror film playing on the fear of promiscuity and women's sexuality in the 1940's, it follows a young foreign woman who fears she turns into a flesh-eating cat creature when sexually aroused. While that sounds like a dumb B-movie, the way it's executed is very impressive. It holds back and tries to not show the monster, and keeps the mystery going: is she actually some sort of shapeshifter, or is she just going crazy? That's something I'll let you find out on your own, but this movie is often considered one of the best thriller films ever made, especially for it's time.



1. The Wolf Man (1941): The only Universal film to make the list is the one that made Lon Chaney Jr. into a star. Far more successful than 1935's underrated Werewolf of London, this film has a lot of great, iconic scenes, and a sympathetic main character. Funny enough, we never see the transformation scene in this movie (at least not fully), the Wolf-Man strangles his victims (not mauling them, like you'd expect), and there's no shots of a full moon. But even with all those elements missing, the movie remains a classic of the genre and inspired countless other great werewolf films.

  (Images: Wikipedia)

Runner-ups: The Body Snatcher, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Phantom of the Opera.

Top 10 Horror Movies of the 1930's: The Golden Age of Hollywood's Most Controversial Genre

Since I'll be doing a top horror films list for each decade, it only makes sense to do it chronologically, so here is the list for the 1930's, possibly the best decade in classic horror.

Criteria:
Must be a horror film or film with horroresque elements
Must have been made between 1930-1939

But first, some background...

 At the turn of the decade, sound had just entered cinema. It was an amazing innovation, now you could hear the music on screen rather than from the theater's in-house orchestra, you could hear what the characters were actually saying, and not just tread it on title cards. One the negative side, this ended many a silent star career, as many of them had either thick accents or squeaky voices that would either confuse the audience or send them into uncontrollable bouts of laughter. But, for certain stars, such as Greta Garbo or Bela Lugosi, their distinct accents matched their looks perfectly and enhanced their characters.
      Around the early 30's, studios were looking for the next big fantasy and horror stories to adapt into films. They began with Mary Shelley's modern classic Frankenstein, or: The Modern Prometheus. After the success of that made stars out of both actor Boris Karloff and director James Whale (one of the first openly gay film directors), they moved on to Irish author Bram Stoker's large and, at-the-time, hard-to-stomach novel Dracula, which was inspired by both vampire-related folklore and the real-life story of ruthless Romanian dictator and warrior Vlad the Impaler, who was rumored to eat his dinner amidst the agonized victims of his wrath (he enjoyed the screams, apparently) and dip his bread in their blood. This success made star Bela Lugosi a film icon and got underrated director Tod Browning more work in the horror genre.
     This boom in horror films was the subject of controversy, and certain key scenes were edited out of Frankenstein because the studio felt them to graphic, but they were later restored and put back in after critics' argued they improved the film immensely, and they have since become as individually iconic as the larger film they inhabit. The two stars of these films, Lugosi and Karloff, later went on to be even more successful in films such as White Zombie and The Man Who Wouldn't Hang, and in films featuring both, such as Son of Frankenstein and The Black Cat. Karloff later became a regular in cheap Edgar Allen Poe films of the 1950's, and eventually voiced both the narrator and the titular character in the 1966 special How the Grinch Stole Christmas. These two were made genre icons, to say the least.

The List:

10. Island of Lost Souls (1932): This is by far the best adaptation of H.G. Wells' classic The Island of Dr. Moreau, and is also the first. The exceptionally dark tone for a film of this time and performances by Bela Lugosi as one of Moreau's "beast men", and Charles Laughton as Moreau himself make this film definitely worthwhile.



9. The Old Dark House (1932): This strange little film from Frankenstein director James Whale features some great returning cast members from his other films, most notably Boris Karloff and Ernest Thesiger, as well as some newer talent such as Gloria Stuart or Melvyn Douglas, and even Charles Laughton. It tells the story of a sroup of travelers taking shelter from a rain storm by being guests in an eerie mansion in Wales, where they are hosted by the strange and crazy Femm family and their monstrous butler. It's just a fun movie to watch and it gets so crazy that it's hard to believe this was made in 1932, when one of the strictest production codes in cinema history was in place.



8. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931): This classic RKO film is actually kind of hard to find nowadays. The DVD copies are sort of rare and, I believe, out of print, and there's no Blu-ray release planned. I was very pleased with this film, as Frederich March seems to really get the double role. While a bit hammy as Jekyll, he really relishes the role of Hyde. This movie is one of the more violent and provocative of the 1930's American horror films, as it was Pre-Code and therefore not subject to studio scrutiny and extensive editing. It's a crazy and almost shocking horror film (if you consider what time it was made) and it's got a great lead actor. Not to mention the fact that Wally Westmore's Hyde makeup forever shaped the way the character was portrayed in media. The effects are still seen today in how filmmakers and artists choose to portray him, in an almost ape-like manner.



7. White Zombie (1932): Now, to clarify: this film is not about zombies as we know them today. The notion of zombies as flesh-eating dead people didn't come around until about the 1950's or 60's; these zombies are in the more traditional sense of a hypnotized person who has been enslaved to a voodoo priest or priestess, as in Haitian folklore. Who really shines is Bela Lugosi. Lugosi's role as the voodoo practitioner Legendre is eerie and hypnotizing. This film was made during the whole zombie movie boom of the 30's and 40's, and this is by far the best one. Rob Zombie even named his first band after it.



6. M (1931): Classic director Fritz Lang's dark and disturbing noir-thriller focuses on a psychotic murderer played by Peter Lorre who kills children. Pretty bleak for a 1930's film, no? Lang considered this his finest work, and it was hist first film made with sound. Lorre's disturbing and iconic performance forever typecast him as the mysterious foreigner/creepy villain in movies, especially in British and American productions.



5. The Invisible Man (1933): James Whale's sci-fi/horror story is the perfect adaptation of H.G. Wells' classic novel. Claude Rains (in his first American film role) is great as Dr. Griffin, the man driven insane by his incurable invisibility. Gloria Stuart also stars as Griffin's love interest. A less serious horror film that's also one of the best of the Golden Age of Hollywood, in any genre.



4. King Kong (1933): This epic monster movie and adventure film is one of the greatest films ever made, as well as possibly the most influential of this decade. With a good cast, iconic action scenes, and Willis O'Brien's groundbreaking stop-motion effects, it's no wonder how this film influenced countless filmmakers, including Peter Jackson (who produced a well-done remake in 2005), Sam Raimi, Ray Harryhausen, and countless others.



3. Freaks (1932): Tod Browning's disturbing and weird film is memorable for a number of reasons. The most notable is that it used real freakshow performers in it's cast, something that would not be done today, for many good reasons, but the performers in the film all do fantastic jobs and you actually get on their side. Why? Well the plot follows a gold-digging trapeze artist and her strongman boyfriend's scheme to trick a rich sideshow performer out of his money. This backfires when the performer's fellow "freaks" hear of this plan and devise a brutal revenge to exact on these selfish people. This film continues to have any influence on horror cinema and television, most notably the upcoming season of Ryan Murphy's American Horror Story, whose new storyline is called Freakshow.



2. Dracula (both 1931 versions): Now, this is technically cheating, as I'm counting two films and they're technically the exact same film. The only difference is one is in Spanish. Now, the 1931 English version is undoubtedly a classic, mostly due to Lugosi's influential portrayal of Dracula and Dwight Frye's turn as the crazed Renfield, despite over-acting a bit. Edward Van Sloane is also great as Abraham Van Helsing. The Spanish version, despite Carlos Villarias' obviously inferior portrayal of the vampire, is actually the better version. It was shot on the same sets as the English film at the same time, right after the U.S. crew would leave for the night. Because Spanish production codes were looser, there were more provocative costumes and less censored dialogue. Thought to be lost to time, it was re-discovered in the 1970's and restored. The Spanish version is so good it makes you wish Bela Lugosi was in this rather than the U.S., although he wouldn't be as famous.



1. Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein (1931 and 1935; tie): I couldn't decide which Frankenstein film was superior, as they're both excellent and they have most of the same cast and the same director. Where do I begin? It's got iconic imagery, one of the most famous lines from any form of media ever ("It's alive!"), and a sympathetic and imposing monster played by Boris Karloff. The makeup was specifically designed for the film by famed makeup artist Jack Pierce, as the actual descriptions of the monster in the novel are vague and leave it to your imagination. The image that Jack Pierce created as forever been associated with the name Frankenstein. Colin Clive and Dwight Frye are excellent as Dr. Frankenstein and his hunchbacked assistant Fritz, respectively. Edward Van Sloan is also great as Dr. Waldman, and as the opening announcer who gives the audience a warning about how scary the film is, which is kind of funny to watch today. The sequel, Bride, is equally as iconic  and is one of the few follow-ups that is on par with the original. Boris Karloff returns as the monster, who now speaks in this film. Colin Clive returns as Frankenstein, now in competition with the evil Dr. Pretorius, played by Ernest Thesiger, who keeps shrunken people in jars for his own amusement. Elsa Lanchester plays the monster's titular love interest, with her iconic hairstyle. I'm convinced the title of this movie contributed to the confusion about the name of the monster, as the "bride of Frankenstein" does not actual web Dr. Frankenstein, but his creation, which has no name. Despite that, this movie continues to be an influential piece of cinema, as does it's predecessor.



(Images: Wikipedia)

Runner-ups: The Mummy, The Mummy's Curse, The Raven, The Black Cat, Vampyr.

A Walk Among the Tombstones: The latest Liam Neeson thriller may not be the breath of fresh air I expected

Today, I look at the latest thriller film starring Liam Neeson.

A Walk Among the Tombstones:
In 1991, alcoholic New York City cop Matthew Scudder takes down some thieves who shoot up a bar. 8 years later, he has now quit drinking and is working as a private detective. He is hired by a man to find his missing wife, but as the plot thickens, Scudder discovers there's more to this seemingly run-of-the-mill kidnapping than he was expecting.
       Now, despite being a relatively cliche thriller, I actually was very pleased with this film. Liam Neeson's whole "unstoppable bad-ass" persona is toned down pretty significantly in this movie, and he barely ever gets into shootouts or fist-fights, which was refreshing. The cast, made up mostly of people known for either TV roles or bit parts, does a pretty solid job. Dan Stevens of Downton Abbey, Boyd Holbrook, and Sebastian Roche are all very good supporting actors, and the child actor Brian "Astro" Bradley may have a pretty cliched role, but I didn't find him annoying at any point and actually cared about he and Neeson's relationship. The villains, played by David Harbour and Adam David Thompson, are very cheesy villains who are just a little too over-the-top for my tastes, but ultimately, they weren't enough to make me dislike the movie.
       The music by Carlos Rafael Rivera was a little bland for me and some of the choices for what music to set to some scenes felt a little off (especially the final shot), but ultimately it wasn't so much that it detracted from the overall story. The ending showdown at the cemetery was a really good way to end the film (only it technically didn't end there) and I liked that they actually built tension to the final fight rather than just have the whole movie be a string of constant fights and shootings.
      Although the ending dragged on for a bit and started to test my suspension of disbelief, it ultimately felt like a good way to end the movie. I also felt the mystery of the film was intriguing until about half-way through when you basically find out what the killers' motive is. There's also some unresolved questions and plot-holes, but unlike in some movies where that adds another layer of mystery which makes the movie more fun to analyze, in this it just feels like lazy writing and maybe some bad directorial and editing decisions.
      Overall, A Walk Among the Tombstones doesn't feel as fresh or exhilarating as Taken, but it also doesn't feel as stupid as Unknown. It's got a lot of thriller movie cliches and tropes, but it also does try to do some new things and provides Liam Neeson with an actual three-dimensional character to play and not just a one-dimensional caricature like in Taken 2 or Non-Stop. It's a nice little thriller and I definitely would recommend it to fans of slower action stories or fans of Neeson, and who isn't these days? 3.5/5 stars.

 (Image: Wikipedia)

Top 5 Horror Movies of the 1920s: Cinema's Silent Era At It's Best

Today, I look at what I consider the top 5 best horror films of the 1920's, the decade that really kick-started the movie industry and really defined the genres of action-adventure, comedy, horror, and sci-fi/fantasy.

Criteria:
Must have been made between the years of 1920 and 1929
Must be a horror film, or contain horroresque elements

But first, a little background...
     At the turn of the century, movies were beginning to gain a lot of traction, and replacing older art forms, such as vaudeville theater. Because of this, filmmakers began expanding their ideas, making them bigger and more fantastical. Movies went from five or ten-minute shorts to full-length features, with actual stories and characters. The movie star was born, with Lon Chaney Sr., Great Garbo, Rudolph Valentino, Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, and Harold Lloyd becoming the subjects of immense public interest. Chaney is the one I'm going to focus in on, as he's most important in the topic of horror films.
     Chaney was born to two deaf parents, and thus had to learn to express himself through sign language and exaggerated facial expressions. These skills lent themselves to his career as a silent film actor, and he became a star of horror films, due to his penchant for playing freakish people who are tragically misunderstood by society, and his talent for applying his own gruesome makeup. He can be considered the man who made horror films a big thing in the U.S., but over in Europe, filmmakers were a bit ahead of him.
    In Germany, in particular, surreal horror was thriving. German expressionist cinema was a perfect platform for Gothic horror- weird characters, dream-like atmosphere, and imaginative sets and costumes are all components of both expressionist cinema and classic horror. Filmmakers such as F.W. Murnau and actors like Max Schreck and Conrad Veidt were terrifying European and American audiences alike, and they can be considered the true creators of the horror movie.

The List:

5. Haxan (1922): This Eastern-European masterpiece from Benjamin Christensen tells a tale of withcraft and devil worship, and although it was beloved in it's native Denmark, and is now considered a classic of silent cinema, at the time it was banned in several countries (including the U.S.) due to what was considered controversial depictions of torture, sex, or satanic worship.



4. The Golem (1920): This prequel to the 1915 film tells the original story of The Golem, a Jewish folklore monster, a creature made of clay who kills. With it's striking visuals and interesting background in ancient Hebrew lore, it's hard not to enjoy The Golem on some level.



3. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920): This German expressionist film is basically a surreal retelling of the Frankenstein story, with a nightmarish quality that looks like the visuals of artists such as Salvador Dali and Van Gough, as well as Tim Burton's black-on-white color scheme. It brought so many innovations to the world of movies: it introduced the idea of a scary movie, as well as perhaps having the first twist ending.



2. The Phantom of the Opera (1925): The only American film to make the list is undoubtedly Lon Chaney, Sr.'s best and most iconic performance. Adapting Gaston Leroux's eerie novel, the film tells the tragic and dark story of the lonely and possibly insane "Phantom" named Erik, who falls in love with an opera singer and intends to win her over, albeit in his own twisted way. Rare for American horror at the time, the monster is portrayed in a mostly sympathetic way that challenged many audience members. Not to mention Chaney's impressive and physically taxing self-made makeup job that still manages to creep under the skin today. When his character is first unmasked, audience members were said to have screamed in horror or simply fainted.



1. Nosferatu (1922): Undoubtedly the scariest film of the 1920's, this unofficial adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel Dracula was almost destroyed when Stoker's widow sued director F.W. Murnau for copyright infringement. The cinematography and Gothic look of the film are already impressive, but add in Max Schreck's eerie performance as the bat-like Count Orlok, whose inhuman appearance still sends shivers down the spine of moviegoers, and it's no wonder why this film is still heralded as one of the best vampire films ever made.

   (Images: Wikipedia)

Runner-ups: Faust, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, London After Midnight (lost film), The Cat and the Canary, The Bat.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Not as bad as "Transformers", but not great...at all

Last weekend, I got the chance to see the Michael Bay-produced TMNT reboot. 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:

In New York City, crime is at an all-time high with an urban terrorist group known as the Foot Clan on the loose. A young reporter named April O'Neill is trying to be taken seriously by her coworkers and decides to try and get some exclusive knowledge on the Foot. But she accidentally stumbles across a group of, well, teenage mutant ninja turtles, who try to protect her from the Foot and their fearsome leader The Shredder. 

    This reboot is able to be both mildly entertaining and absolutely laughable. It doesn't have the so-bad-it's-funny vibe as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, or the simplistic, nostalgic charm of the first two Jim Henson films from the 90's, so it just sort of falls in the middle. 

   The acting is pretty bad. Megan Fox is not the slightest bit believable as April, and she is just wooden, and she tries to be a strong character, and just fails miserably. Will Artnett brought comic relief as Vern Fenwick, April's partner. Johnny Knoxville is slightly miscast as Leonardo, but he's able to pull it off. Alan Ritchson is actually really great as Raphael. Noel Fisher is rather annoying as Michelangelo, who's supposed to come off as charming and funny, but here he's about as funny as Jar Jar Binks. Jeremy Howard does a great job as the nerdy Donatello. Danny Woodburn mo-caps Splinter, who is voiced by a surprisingly good Tony Shaloub, despite lacking a Japanese accent. I preferred Mako from the 2007 CG film, but Shaloub is fine. William Fichtner was supposed to be Shredder, but he's not. He plays a lackluster villain named Eric Sacks, who I suspected to turn out to be like Krang or something at the end, but nope, he's just some guy. Whoopi Goldberg is just sort of there as April's boss Bernadette Thompson. Tohoro Masamune plays Shredder, who is just awful in this movie; seriously. Taran Killam cameos as a newsroom employee, and K. Todd Freeman has a very brief cameo as fan favorite character Baxter Stockman. 

   I was surprised by Jonathan Liebesman's directing. He went from god-awful (Darkness Falls, Battle: LA, Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning) to generally mediocre (this film). Michael Bay is actually not as involved in the film as I thought he'd be, which is a plus.

   The action sequences are pretty well-done, with the exception of the bland and disappointing ending showdown with Shredder. However, the climactic snowy mountain chase was fun and exciting. 

    The writing can be very clunky, filled to the brim with forced sentimentality, plot holes, bad jokes, and scenes where characters blatantly state things the audience could figure out themselves. There's also an awful lot of blatant product placement, although not as bad as Transformers. There are a few clever jokes for people who know the history of the franchise (including a jab about a terrible hip hop Christmas VHS special featuring the Turtles released in the early 90's, and another about the rumors that the Turtles would be aliens in this reboot). 

    This isn't so much a complaint about the film itself, but my theater experience. Because it's a Nickelodeon-produced film, I had to sit through a plethora of previews for terrible kid's films, including the awful-looking Spongebob Squarepants sequel. There was also a kid in my particular theater, who I'm pretty sure was one of two things- mentally handicapped, or he was just fucking around, because he was making a good deal of noise the entire time, and he was at least 9 or 10, and at one point the characters say that they are "heroes in a half-shell", and he couldn't help but say, completely out loud, "Turtle Power!" 

   There's also a very irritating and unnecessary rap number at the end of the film that plays over the credits which I thought was just awful. Not to mention the completely unnecessary and strange changes to the lore, like turning(Spoiler Alert, like it even matters) the Turtles and Splinter into April's childhood pets, or making Eric Sacks, this random made-up character, Shredder's apprentice and adopted son. 

  Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles doesn't have enough charm or action to constitute second viewings or even a sequel, but it's harmless. Better than either Liebesman or Bay's previous efforts (at least Bay's recent ones), but not so much that it blows expectations away, I'd say maybe take your kids or younger siblings to it if they want to, but otherwise, just stick with the originals. 2.5/5 stars.

 (Image: Wikipedia)

Boyhood: Richard Linklater's unique drama film

Last week, I had the opportunity to see the new film from director Richard Linklater (Dazed and Confused, A Scanner Darkly, School of Rock).

Boyhood:
Made over the course of 12 years, the film follows the journey of a young boy from age six to age eighteen, and see his evolution from boy to man.
    Despite dragging on a bit too long and being a bit too self-indulgent, Linklater's landmark effort is something I recommend most people see.
    Ellar Coltrane does a satisfactory job as the lead character Mason. Linklater's daughter Lorelei does a fair job as Mason's sister Samantha. The stand-outs are Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke as the parents, Olivia and Mason Sr., respectively.
    The cinematography in the film is exceptional, and the soundtrack is pretty great as well. My main complaints are the sometimes clunky writing and rather annoying and pretentious main character. My other complaint is that there are key scenes in the film that feel like they're setting up for something (two key scenes are a scene where the main character and his friends are drinking and goofing around; and a scene where the character's on his phone while driving) and lead nowhere, which was very disappointing. There's also a running theme that Mason Sr. is very politically opinionated and that could have an affect on how his kids view the world, and I thought that would go somewhere, but it never did, it was just sort of there. In fact, certain segments of the film could have been scrapped entirely and would have benefited the film immensely, as it wouldn't feel so bloated. This isn't just me, many people I spoke to agreed they were expecting something catastrophic to happen in those sequences that would have actually made things more interesting.
    There's also the issue that the title isn't actually that relevant. Sure, we do see the main kid grow up on screen, but there's not a lot of life lessons in this film, which I would expect from a movie claiming to be about a boy's developmental years. Overall, the "made over 12 years" thing is pretty amazing, but ultimately, at least to me, came off as a William Castle-esque gimmick more than anything, because the more I thought about it, the actual story isn't particularly impressive.
    Overall, Boyhood (like a good portion of Linklater's work) is obscenely overrated, but it is something I would say is worth a watch. Modern classic? No. (Despite many critics disagreeing with me.) Entertaining? Yes. 3.5/5 stars.

Great review (SPOILERS): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lampOM4AhAk

 (Image: Wikipedia)

R.I.P. Joan Rivers

Today, the world lost one of the icons of modern comedy, and one of the most influential comediennes of all time. Joan Rivers may have been as equally famous for her extensive plastic surgeries, but she undoubtedly had an immense effect on modern pop culture. Funny enough, I always confused her for Phyllis Diller (another famous comedienne who passed away in 2012). Her tragic death during a complicated surgery today leaves her daughter Melissa Rivers without a mother, so I give her my condolences. We will never forget her signature comedy style, sharp wit, and even her jabs at herself.

                                                                    Joan Rivers
                                                              1933-2014 (age: 81)
         
                                                        (Image: Wikipedia)