Halloween Boutique Psychotronic Reviews

So the Halloween Boutique Psychotronic Reviews podcast decided to do an episode on the 2009 movie WATCHMEN but our discussion went a bit long as we discussed the background to the movie, and its source material. So we decided to break it into two episodes. The second is all about the movie itself.

Directed by Zack Snyder, written by David Hayter and Alex Tse, and starring Malin Akerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Good, Jackie Earle Haley, Patrick Wilson, Carla Gugino, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, was not the success that the studio had hoped. With the usual debate between the fans of the graphic novel and superheroes in general, backlash and praise were both the norm.

Now fifteen years later, the movie has become somewhat of a cult classic. With its fabulous special effects, splendid acting, and changes to the story to make it fit within a movie length, the film, though polarizing, continues to find audiences through streaming. Your cohosts take a look at the film itself and give their thoughts.

Detective Comics, better known as DC, has delivered some of the most iconic superhero characters of all time such as Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman, and Harley Quinn. In 1986, the first issue of Watchmen appeared which was something altogether different. A violent, transgressive, political, and sexual take on superheroes, the series (now a graphic novel), was troubling to some but loved by others.

The talents behind the graphic novel include write Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons, and colorist John Higgins. Since its debut, the popularity with its alternate timeline has only grown as it became a movie simply titled Watchmen, written by David Hayter and Alex Tse, and directed by talented and enigmatic Zack Snyder.

Receiving mixed reviews, the movie may have been before its time as comic book films were just at the cusp of dominating the movie box office. In this first of two episodes, your co-hosts talk about the backstory of source material and the dream of Zack Snyder trying to make what many thought as an impossible source material to adapt into what is now considered a beloved cult film by many.

Pride month is wrapping down. So for the last film for our theme month where we are reviewing lesbian arthouse movies, we take a look at the definition of an arthouse film. The movie, ELENORE MAKES LOVE, from 2015, is a short hour long feature with the feel of the type of film that showed daily in New York City during the heyday of black and white erotic films. And yet, like many of them, it presents itself the esoteric and complex arthouse feel that turned erotism into avante-garde or artifice.

From IMDB: A young, tall, blonde, female photographer, Dee (Dee Herlihy), meets a pretty brunette model, Eleanor (Audrey Kovar), in an upscale hotel suite in New York City for a private photo shoot. They soon romantically connect and spend the weekend together in the room. As the film progresses into a non-linear dream-like mix of conversation and making love, it is slowly revealed that the two women have a past together. In the end, that past may be more present than we think. In the different flashbacks, the photographer’s brother (Ryan Balas) tells her that he disapproves of her dating Elenore, while Elenore the model has another lover, a married man, whom she spends time with on the side.

The film was directed and written by Ryan Balas while also starring as Dee’s brother. A cast of only four, the film stars Dee Helihy, Audrey Kovar, Ryan Balas, and Richard Buonagurio. Being shorter in length, and as deeply arthouse as a film can be, the movie has little reviews by press or websites. Your co-hosts, however, decide to take a look at this little film and give their thoughts.

For our theme month where we are reviewing lesbian arthouse movies for pride month, we take a look at a very interesting film about the creator of Wonder Woman and the women in his life. The film is a well received film entitled PROFESSOR MARSTON AND THE WONDER WOMEN (2017)

Professor William Marston (Luke Evans) is a professor at Harvard University with his wife Elizabeth (Rebecca Hall). When student Olive Byrne (Bella Heathcote) becomes his assistant, the three become entangled in a love triangle. Using his ideas entitled DISC theory, he begins to live his life that way, as well as invent the character of Wonder Woman following the same hypothesis.

The film is written and directed by Angela Robinson. Since it did not contact the family and estate of Marston, Elizabeth, and Olive, the film is very much fictional about actual individuals. However, is the film any good and does it have compelling plot points to standout? Your co-hosts take a look at the movie and give their thoughts.

Pride month and lesbian arthouse films continues. For our second film in the themed month of the podcast, we take a look at a 2017 release called BECKS (2017).

Rebecca (Lena Hall) is an aspiring folk singer. When her girlfriend has an affair, Rebecca, broke and apartmentless, heads back home to St. Louis to live with her widowed mother, Ann (Christine Lahti). Soon Rebecca gets a music gig at her old friend’s bar where she meets Elyse (Mena Suvari), a married woman who comes to listen to music with her friends. Soon Elyse takes up guitar lessons from Rebecca. And as always, life doesn’t follow the expected past.

The movie stars Lena Hall, Mena Suvari, Christine Lahti, Dan Fogler, and Michael Zegen; a very impressive group of character actors and actresses. The film was co-directed by Daniel Powell and Elizabeth Rohrbaugh and made the festival circuit back in 2017 during its release. Your co-hosts take a look at the movie and give their thoughts about the film.

Welcome to Halloween Boutique Psychotronic Reviews theme month. June has been designated as Pride Month for the LGBT community. So to fit with the month, once again the podcast has decided to review various art house lesbian films as we did last year. To start off with, we are doing something a bit different. Let’s do a fun comedy and mainstream film to begin before we get into the true arthouse. So we start with the Syndey Sweeney superhit ANYONE BUT YOU (2023).

Bea (Sydney Sweeney) meets Ben (Glen Powell) at a Boston coffee shop and they instantly hit it off. After an absolute wonderful date, the two make a mistake causing them to figure to never see each other again. When Ben’s best friends sister is marrying Bea’s sister, the two oddly reconnect. And boy, are they upset with each other. But still, can love overcome a stupid mistake and turn a promising start into a wonderful ending?

The film became a surprise hit and brought both stars to full A-list status. The movie was directed by Will Gluck and includes a cast of folks that includes Dermot Mulroney and Michelle Hurd. The movie was also nominated for “Outstanding Film – Wide Theatrical Release” by GLAAD media. Your cohosts take a look at the movie and give their thoughts.

The podcast decides to try to do something different with our latest episode. Genre movies, books, video games, disc reviews, interviews, anime, art house film - that's been our regular format. But with 2023 just wrapping up, and almost all of 2024 still to come, we decided to take a look at various films between the two years and recap and deconstruct what we know.

2023 was a pretty mediocre year when it came to genre films. Horror and superhero films were mostly forgettable with the occasional gem that hit it out of the ballpark. We go into depths of some well known films like EVIL DEAD RISE, and some lesser known gems like VENUS and MASTER GARDENER. But we also look back at televisions series like LAST OF US and ONE PIECE too.

Then we take a look at some films and television shows coming in 2024. Will the new ALIEN: ROMULUS take the franchise in a new direction? After Ryan Gosling's performance in BARBIE and Emily Blunt nominated for an Oscar for her role in OPPENHEIMER, will their new film THE FALL GUY that's coming be a major hit? Also discussed is how some of the 2024 movies that may not make the Dark Discussions Podcast may actually be picked up on Halloween Boutique Psychotronic Reviews as episodes. Take a listen and enjoy.

Cyberpunk?  It’s one of the most unique science fiction subgenres.  Even though it hasn’t become as popular as space opera or hard science fiction, it has its hardcore fans that have made it remain in the public eye.  Japan, alone, it has actually become one of the most popular science fiction story arcs.  The movie DREDD (2012), like many American cyberpunk films, was not a box office success, but it has gained an amazing cult following since.

In a dystopian future, the government has put in place judges to keep order in place.  When a slum tower block becomes the haven of kingpin Madeline Madrigal (Lena Headey), Judge Dredd (Karl Urban) is sent along with rookie Cassandra Anderson (Olivia Thirlby) to investigate three murders.  After the capture of one of Madeline’s lieutenants that could implicate her in the murders, she shuts down the building and Judge Dredd is now fighting for his life.

DREDD was directed by Pete Travis from a script by A-lister Alex Garland who’s known for the novel, THE BEACH, as well as director of EX MACHINA (2015) and ANNIHILATION (2018) as well as the screenwriter for 28 DAYS LATER (2002).  The movie was originally released in 3D and shockingly failed at the box office.  Receiving great reviews, and paying tribute to the graphic novel that it is based on, your co-hosts take a look at the movie and are joined by special guest actor Dan Lench to discuss the film.

DC movies have received varying degrees of success as each is released and turns into a box office smash or a disappointment.   When James Gunn took over as the head of the latest re-boot of the universe of the comicbooks to film, his first project was THE SUICIDE SQUAD (2021), a standalone sequel to the original from 2016. 

Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) once more puts together a super villain squad of anti-heroes to infiltrate the Latin American country of Corto Maltese after a coup overthrew the neutral government that now has turned the island nation hostile.  The squad is kept in the dark but takes the job as they will get suspended prison terms if the mission is a success.  Unfortunately for them, Waller may be as dangerous to their survival as Corto Maltese’s junta.

The movie is another success for James Gunn and gives him a big jump with Warner Brother’s Pictures and their upcoming universe.  The film didn’t gross as much as it was hoped as it was released during the middle of the COVID pandemic, but it has generated great reviews and much success after its initial theatrical run.  Your co-hosts take a look at this movie and give their thoughts.

On episode 585 of the podcast, we reviewed and discussed the new horror film FOLLOW HER (2023). All of us felt the film was a hidden gem and definitely a movie everyone should watch. With its twists and turns, a second watch is as good a first as things that were missed are not clearly seen. For this episode we were lucky to get actress/screenwriter Dani Barker and director Sylvia Caminer to join us and discuss their fantastic movie.

From IMDB: “An aspiring actress responds to a mysterious classified ad and find herself trapped in her new boss’s twisted revenge fantasy.”

Though the IMDB blurb is slight on information, the movie is so much more as it focuses on social media influencers, one’s internal conscious, as well as family relationships and how those create online content may actually create nothing at all. Your co-hosts ask our guests a lot of great questions and learn more about the film and filmmaking in general.