Chuck's Movie Breakdown

        Happy Halloween, everyone. Chuck here, and we've reached the end of another HallowScream . To finish out this month, I'm taking a look at something that not everyone will see as a Halloween movie, but a few do. This is my review of Cowboy Bebop: The Movie , released in 2001, and featuring the returns of Steve Blum as Spike Spiegel, Beau Billingslea as Jet Black, Wendee Lee as Faye Valentine, and Melissa Fahn as Ed.          Okay, so a few days before Halloween on Mars, Faye sees an unknown terrorist blow up a tanker truck while she's chasing another bounty. The blast unleashes a dangerous pathogen that kills many, and causes many others to fall ill. After the attack, the Martian government offers up a bounty of 300 million Woolong for the capture of the culprit. And, of course, the Bebop crew wants the bounty. Upon investigating, two things are discovered. First, the culprit may, in fact, be a man named Vincent Volaju, who was pr...

         Hey guys, Chuck here, and HallowScream is starting to wind down. So, today, I'd like to talk about Shrek . Launching in the year 2001, the Shrek franchise has become a staple of DreamWorks animation, spanning four films, two Puss in Boots spin-offs, and several specials, including this 2010 Halloween special titles Scared Shrekless .          The special starts off with Shrek and Fiona, along with their children Fergus, Farkle, and Felicia, scaring off a group of trick-or-treaters, and claiming their Halloween candy. Upon returning to their home in the swamp, Shrek and Fiona are greeted by their friends Donkey, Gingerbread Man, Puss in Boots, the Three Little Pigs, the Wolf, the Three Blind Mice, and Pinocchio, who are attempting to scare Shrek. However, Shrek points out that ogres don't get scared, they DO the scaring. Unconvinced, the others convince Shrek to share scary stories. Shrek agrees, but on the condition that he pick...

        Hey guys, Chuck here. Well, I recently saw the new movie Venom: The Last Dance, written and directed by Kelly Marcel, and starring Tom Hardy, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Juno Temple, Clark Backo, Rhys Ifans, Stephen Graham, Alanna Ubach, Peggy Lu,  and Andy Serkis.           So, this movie sees Eddie Brock and the symbiote Venom both on the run after the events of Let There Be Carnage , and now having to deal with creatures known as Xenophages arriving on Earth, being sent after Venom by Knull, the creator of the symbiotes. So, it's up to Eddie, Venom, and a battalion of symbiotes to save the world.          This movie is a bit of a mixed bag for me, as I thoroughly enjoyed the action, the humor, and seeing a whole variety of symbiotes with pretty unique designs, color variations, and abilities. Throughout the Venom series, we'd only gotten to see three symbiotes: Venom, Riot, and Carnage. So, for this movie t...

         Hey guys, Chuck here. And for today's HallowScream review, we're going to be looking at a 1952 Disney cartoon starring Donald Duck called Trick or Treat .          The short sees Donald Duck trying to enjoy a quiet evening on Halloween night, when his nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie show up for trick-or-treating. Donald decides to mess with the boys by giving them firecrackers, which blows up their bags of candy. However, that night also sees a witch named Hazel show up, and what follows is a battle of pranks between Donald and Hazel, with Hazel using her magic to scare the daylights out of Donald. And, this includes using ghosts and a talking, flying Jack-o'-lantern to scare him. And, eventually using magic to make Donald's feet move with a will of their own. At the end of it all, Donald learns his lesson, gives the boys their trick-or-treat candy, and Hazel flies off to parts unknown.         So, Trick ...

        Hey guys, Chuck here, and it's Stephen King time once again, as we're diving into one of my favorite recent films based on a Stephen King book for HallowScream . In this instance, we're looking at director Mike Flanagan's 2019 film adaptation of Stephen King's Doctor Sleep , starring Ewan McGregor, Rebecca Ferguson, Cliff Curtis, Kyleigh Curran, Zahn McClarnon, Emily Alyn Lind, Carl Lumbly, and Henry Thomas.          Now, much like King's original novel, Doctor Sleep serves as a sequel to the Stanley Kubrick classic The Shining , while also adapting the Stephen King novel of Doctor Sleep as well. And, to that end, I give major props to director Mike Flanagan for taking on this massive juggling act of having to both adapt a Stephen King novel and return to a world designed by Stanley Kubrick. It wasn't an easy job, but he did it extraordinarily well.          So, the story of Doctor Sleep follows Dan Torrance, ...

        Hey guys, Chuck here, and for  HallowScream today, it's another review of a film based on Mary Shelly's Frankenstein . But, in this case, we'll be taking a look at the 1974 Mel Brooks comedy Young Frankenstein , starring Gene Wilder, Peter Boyle, Marty Feldman, Teri Garr, Kenneth Mars, Cloris Leachman, Gene Hackman, and Madeline Khan.         The movie focuses on Frederick Frankenstein, who has chosen to distance himself from his grandfather Victor's legacy by insisting his name is pronounced "Fronkensteen." One day, after teaching a college class on the central nervous system, Frederick is approached by a man named Gerhardt Falkstein, who is a lawyer from Transylvania representing the will of Baron Beaufort von Frankenstein, which leaves the castle and estate to Frederick. Saying goodbye to his fiancee Elizabeth, Frederick travels to Transylvania, where he meets his new bug-eyed hunchbacked servant Igor (pronounced "Eyegore"), a...

        Hey guys, Chuck here, and it just wouldn't really be a HallowScream without a little something from Tim Burton. So, this year, we're taking a look at a short film that is one of his earliest directorial efforts. Frankenweenie , released in 1984, was inspired by Mary Shelly's Frankenstein , and it stars a cast that includes Shelly Duvall, Daniel Stern, Barrett Oliver, Joseph Maher, Paul Bartel, Jason Hervey, and Sofia Coppola.          So, Frankenweenie tells the story of a boy named Victor Frankenstein, who makes his own homemade monster movies, featuring his family dog Sparky as the monster in his little movies. One day, a tragedy occurs when Sparky is hit by an oncoming car, and he dies. Some time passes, and after Sparky is buried, Victor does something truly insane: uses an experiment akin to the one from the story of Frankenstein to bring Sparky back from the dead. However, Victor does his best to keep Sparky a secret, as there's...

        Hey guys, Chuck here. And, after the modest success of Casper , Universal and Amblin were keen to produce a sequel. However, that wouldn't end up happening, as The Harvey Entertainment Company would cut a deal with 20th Century Fox and Saban Entertainment to produce a pair of direct-to-video prequels. The first of these would be Casper: A Spirited Beginning , released in 1997. Directed by Sean McNamara, this movie stars Steve Guttenberg, Lori Loughlin, Brendon Ryan Barrett, Michael McKean, Debi Mazar, Rodney Dangerfield, Shannon Chandler, and Richard Moll, with the voice talents of Jeremy Foley, James Ward, Jess Harnell, Bill Farmer, Pauly Shore, and James Earl Jones.          The movie opens with Casper being one of five ghosts on board a spectral train heading to Ghost Central Station, where new ghosts are trained in the ways of being a ghost. Unfortunately, the confused Casper bothers one of the other passengers, who tosses him out...

        Hey guys, Chuck here, and this marks the second time we've reviewed a video game for HallowScream . And, I can't think of a more perfect game to discuss that 2015's Batman: Arkham Knight , produced by WB Games and Rocksteady, and serving as the closing chapter in the Batman: Arkham trilogy. Something quick to note, though, is that before this game was released, Warner Bros. Montreal produced a prequel game to the Arkham series called Arkham Origins . And, while Origins is still set in the world of the Arkham series, as evidenced by several mentions of characters and events from that game throughout Arkham Knight , make no mistake: the Arkham series is still a narrative trilogy.          Nine months have passed since the events of Arkham City , and Joker's dead body was cremated by Commissioner Gordon (by the way, this actually opens the game, as the player gets to cremate Joker while the song "I've Got You Under My Skin" by Frank Sina...

          Hey guys, Chuck here, and we're back with more HallowScream . Today's review is of the 2004 horror comedy Shaun of the Dead , directed by Edgar Wright and starring Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Kate Ashfield, Lucy Davis, Bill Nighy, and Penelope Wilton. The movie is the first of Edgar Wright's Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy, also known as the Blood and Ice Cream Trilogy. The reason for the trilogy's name is two-fold: as a tribute to Krzysztof Kieślowski's Three Colours film trilogy, and each of Edgar Wright's three films in the Cornetto Trilogy has either one of three different flavors of Cornetto ice cream in it. But, enough explaining the point behind the name of the Cornetto Trilogy, let's get in to Shaun of the Dead .          So, the movie focuses on Shaun, a 29-year-old electronics salesman in the Crouch End area of London. Shaun is not having great luck, as his colleagues disrespect him, his girlfriend Liz broke up with him, ...

        Hey guys, Chuck here. Is it possible to follow up a Oscar winning 2019 blockbuster with a massive letdown of a sequel that no one was craving? Well, it looks like Todd Phillips gave us another one with Joker: Folie à Deux, the recently released sequel to the 2019 film Joker. This movie stars Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleason, Catherine Keener, Zazie Beetz, Steve Coogan, and Harry Lawtey.         So, the movie follows Arthur Fleck/Joker, and in particular the aftermath of the lives he took during the events of the first Joker film. In addition to seeing Arthur on trial, we also see him in the Arkham State Hospital in Gotham City. While there, Arthur forms a bond with another patient named Harleen "Lee" Quinzel, and the two undergo a whirlwind romance. Or, perhaps, it's all in Arthur's mind. Who knows...       Okay, so there are a few positive points I have in regards to Joker: Folie à Deux . First, the performa...

          Hey guys, Chuck here, and for today's HallowScream , we'll be diving in to a Universal horror classic: the 1931 film Frankenstein starring Colin Clive and Boris Karloff.          The movie tells of Dr. Henry Frankenstein, who has been going about stealing body parts from the many graves in the local cemetery. Said parts, which are assembled in the form of a very large man. Henry sends his aide, a hunchback named Fritz, after a brain to put into his creation. Unfortunately, Fritz loses the brain he was sent for, and thus he is forced to grab the abnormal brain of a criminal, which was being used to compare the difference between it and an ordinary brain.          We also meet Elizabeth, who is Henry's fiancee, who is concerned over his well being, and both she and Victor, who is a friend of Henry's, go and speak with Dr. Waldman, who is aware of Henry's interest in creating life. The three head to Henry'...

        Hey guys, Chuck here, and I'm back with more HallowScream . When you think of a definitive '90s Halloween flick, you probably think of two movies: Hocus Pocus, and the subject of today's review: Casper . Based on the cartoon character of the same name created by the Harvey Entertainment Company, Casper was directed by Brad Silberling, written by Sherri Stoner and Deanna Oliver (both writers on such shows as Tiny Toons and Animaniacs ), and produced by Amblin Entertainment. The movie's cast consists of Bill Pullman, Christina Ricci, Cathy Moriarty, and Eric Idle, with voice performances by Malachi Pearson, Joe Alaskey, Brad Garrett, and Joe Nipote, and featuring appearances by Ben Stein, Rodney Dangerfield, Don Novello, Dan Aykroyd, Devon Sawa, and Amy Brenneman.         The movie is centered around Whipstaff Manor, which sits on a seaside cliff on the outskirts of Friendship, Maine. The mansion itself has been recently inherited by a ...

        Hey guys, Chuck here. Well, October is here, which means it's officially time for HallowScream.  And, what better way to kick things off than with a review I promised back when I reviewed Hazbin Hotel.  That's right, we're kicking off HallowScream with my review of Helluva Boss , created by Vivienne Medrano for her YouTube channel Vivziepop. The series features the voice talents of Brandon Rogers, Richard Horvitz, Vivian Nixon, Erica Lindbeck, Bryce Pinkham, and Alex Brightman, with recurring and guest voices including the likes of Cristina Vee, Jinkx Monsoon, Mara Wilson, Kesha, Barrett Wilbert Weed, James Monroe Iglehart, Michael Cusack, Faye Mata, Monica Franco, and the list goes on.         So, Helluva Boss is set in, well, Hell, and follows the adventures of an imp named Blitzø (the "o" is silent) and his crew at I.M.P. (Immediate Murder Professionals). Along with Blitzø are his employees Moxxie and Millie, a married im...