Movie Spotlight - BLOOD GLACIER

I love it when I come across a hidden gem of a movie that I don't know anything about. Blood Glacier is a perfect example of this type of discovery. A German film that is also known as "The Station," the general storyline is that there is a climate observation station up in an extremely isolated area in the Alps, where scientists are studying the melting of the glaciers and its effects on the environment. They discover a glacier with red liquid running through it and the scientists are baffled as to what is going on. What they begin to piece together is that as the ice is melting, the red liquid, or glacier blood, spreads throughout the environment. As animals drink water from the melted ice, it causes mutations to occur, some of them innocuous, others not so much. A fox that drank some of the water begins growing a mutated version of insects it had ingested, that eventually pop out of its stomach in true Alien type fashion. Soon, our intrepid band of scientists find themselves battling all sorts of strange creatures, including a giant demonic looking mountain goat.
I watched the dubbed version of this rather than the subtitled one, and of course at times that can lead to unusual dialog as they try to match up the words with the movements of the mouth. It was fairly well done and was not distracting to me whatsoever. Something that I rather like about this movie is the fact that the group of scientists actually look like regular people. Let's face it, it this were an American film every one of the cast members would be about 25 years old and look like a model for Tommy Hilfiger. Blood Glacier features a much more realistic looking cast. The main character, named Janek, is a 40 something year old, short, mostly bald dude. The rest of the cast is similar, including a short 60 year old lady as the Environmental Minister that is visiting the station. She actually has one of the best lines I have heard in a movie in a long time. An absolute classic. As the group is holed up inside the station, trying to figure out a way to ward off the attacks of the mutated creatures, there is a character that is very upset and is attempting to eat. She is struggling to peel a piece of fruit and the Minister lady swoops over to her and screams in her face, "Stop eating that banana while you're crying!" It is a line that just came out of nowhere and is incredibly ridiculous and perfect.
Blood Glacier had definite similarities to "John Carpenter's The Thing" but is different enough to not be  a rip off of that classic. Cinematography is well done, the movie is well made, well acted, and worth a watch. If you are interested in horror/science fiction hybrids that creep along at their own pace then hit you with giant mutated animals trying to kill everybody, Blood Glacier just might be for you. It's available on Netflix streaming. Check it out.

TV Talk and Tidbits

There are many shows on the tube these days that I enjoy. Here is a little rundown of a few random thoughts on some of them.

American Horror Story - I watched the first three seasons of AHS on Netflix. Season 1 is okay, but I didn't love it. It is the story of a troubled couple and their teenage daughter that move to a house in L.A. They get this sweet mansion for a bargain price because it is known as the murder house (for legitimate reason) and it is haunted to the max. There are many twists and turns and high spots during the season, but overall it didn't totally click for me on some level. The cast is outstanding however, featuring Dylan McDermott, Connie Britton, Zach Quinto, Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters (Quicksilver from the X-Men Days of Future Past), and Taissa Farmiga. The highlight throughout all three seasons I have watched is Jessica Lange. This season she portrays the next door neighbor that is a failed Hollywood actress and is full of countless secrets and surprises. She is a powerhouse and chews through scenes like there is no tomorrow.
 Season 2 is awesome. Totally loved that season. Set in an asylum in the early 60's that is filled with wild characters and crazy situations. A young dudes wife is presumed dead and he is thought to have murdered her. Then he is believed to be a mass killer nicknamed Bloody Face. He is sent to a former tuberculosis asylum called Briarcliff that is now being run by the Catholic Church. Specifically, by Jessica Lange as the head Nun. Possession, alien abduction, a Nazi mad scientist war criminal, zombies, evil nuns, a serial killer. Great stuff! It is extremely dark and moody. The tonal quality of the entire season is perfect. James Cromwell joins the cast and plays the former Nazi scientist with aplomb. Definitely a 10 out of 10.
 Season 3 about the Coven is good. Loved it. Not as good as season 2 but still damn good and worth your time. Taissa Farmiga returns as a teenage girl that starts to display her powers as a witch. Her mother knows this is a trait in her family and sends her daughter to New Orleans, where an exclusive girls prep school is secretly a front for a witches coven training center. Jessica Lange is the "supreme", top dog of the coven. Great casting, great setting, great tone. Enjoyable.
The cool thing about American Horror Story is that each season is a completely different story, in a different setting, but they return actors from season to season playing other roles. It's a very nice concept and is always fun to see when an actor from an earlier season returns.

Gotham - Off to a great start. Looks to me like Gotham will be on for a few seasons. Not perfect, but perfectly enjoyable and entertaining. Set in the days when Bruce Wayne's parents have just been murdered, it's the tale of Jim Gordon's start as a cop in Gotham City. There is no Batman, but the groundwork is being set. Also, the dude that plays the Penguin nails that role so good, and Angel from Dexter is killing it as a mob boss.

The Librarians - I get a kick out of the Librarian movies that TNT has put out sporadically over the last several years but wasn't sure how it would turn out when I heard they were making it into a series. Well, come to find out it turns out quite nicely. While the movies were light hearted fun adventuring, a bit of Indiana Jones lite, they tweaked the concept for the series and it works. With a great cast including Rebecca Romijn and John Laroquette, and featuring Max Headroom as an ongoing villain. They took Noah Wyle's Librarian character and changed him from Indiana Jones to more of a Doctor Who. Not totally original I admit, but lots of fun. Wyle, playing the Librarian Flynn Carson, is given a new "Guardian", his personal bodyguard and companion. Rebecca Romijn is a government agent that is recruited and thrust into this role. Instead of a single Librarian, a crew of
other people with great abilities and potential is brought together to be trained in what it takes to fill that job. Through a series of bizarre incidents, the Library is lost and Flynn must go off the grid to retrieve it. The result is that the Guardian must take the team of newbies and travel the world filling the capacity of the Librarian. Working out of an annex run by John Laroquette as the mysterious yet always helpful Jenkins, they travel through portals obtaining artifacts to be stored at the Library, in the truest of Warehouse 13 style. Basically a mix of Warehouse 13 with a dash of Doctor Who. Good stuff and worth checking out.

NCIS New Orleans - Good show. Scott Bakula is all right. I'm not a huge fan of Bakula, but I am a huge fan of Lucas Black, the co star, otherwise known as the kid from Slingblade and American Gothic, and the X Files movie. He's cool, and the show is as well. I don't think this series has the long term legs like NCIS, but at this point it is better than NCIS Los Angeles.

NCIS - Gibbs and his crew are rolling along, very formulaic, but what the Hell, so is my life. Two thumbs up.

Sleepy Hollow - I watch every episode of Sleepy Hollow but it isn't my favorite by far. I like it, it's ok. I like the idea of the show better than the actual execution of the concept. We will see what happens in the second half of season 2. I feel that the problem may be that originally Sleepy Hollow was meant to be a mini series, did fairly well, and they kept going with it. Maybe they don't know exactly what to do with the story. Ichabod Crane is real, and he is alive in the current times, teamed up with a cop trying to stop the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and lots of other stuff. I'm hanging in there with it.

Constantine - John Constantine is a great character. He is a drunken, chain smoking, cussing all the time angry British guy, that also happens to be an occult investigator and practitioner of the magical arts. For this tv show, they had to tame him down some, but he is still pretty cool. Many comic fans have bitched and complained about this show. I think it's really good. I like it a lot. A bit of the Dresden Files mixed with a touch of Supernatural. Is Constantine's sidekick Zed going to turn out to be Zatanna? I hope so. They even employed some story concepts from Constantine's Hellblazer comic from 25 years ago. Pulling for a second season but it doesn't look like that is gonna happen. Oh well, I will watch it while I still can. Not every show can be the best ever, but that doesn't mean it's not worthwhile.

Agents of Shield - This season has been excellent! Can't wait for it to return from hiatus. Shield continues to get better and better. It seems Phil Coulson and his band of merry miscreants have found their groove and the "Skye" is the limit (see what I did there?).

Agent Carter - The mini series filling the Agents of Shield time slot currently has been amazing. Peggy Carter was Captain America's girl, and a top notch agent during WWII. Now the war has ended and the Captain is gone and Peggy is assigned to a civilian unit that just views her as a girl in a mans world, relegated to making coffee and hanging around the office. But Peggy is much more than that, and this series is going to prove it.The tone and feel of the time period is cool as all get out. And it keeps adding layers to the overall Marvel movie universe.

Ascension - This was a two part syfy channel mini series that didn't set my hair on fire but was a nice diversion for a few hours. Rather decent sci fi story, the kind of thing that the syfy network needs to do more of. 50 years ago the ship Ascension was launched on a 100 year mission into the unknown. They have been traveling through space, living their lives, evolving into a different culture than what is going on here on Earth. Or have they? Seek out Ascension to find the answers.

Arrow - Catching up on season 2 on Netflix. Love it. Don't love the CW teen angst type part, but that is what you are gonna get on this network. Overall a show that I always look forward to watching. Oliver Queen's character of  "Arrow" is actually a lot closer to the character of Batman than it is to Green Arrow, but that's okay. Stephen Amell is top notch as Ollie, and they have brought in many interesting bits and pieces from DC Comics. The Suicide Squad, Amanda Waller, and my favorite, Deathstroke. Manu Bennett is the man as Slade Wilson. I hope this series continues for many years and continues to grow the mythology of Arrow.

The 100 - Watched season 1 on Netflix. Again, very CW with the young adult drama, but it has been growing on me throughout the season. I started watching this because I thought the story premise sounded intriguing and that turned out to be the case. Good science fiction. A hundred years ago or so, the earth was devastated by nuclear war, there were people sent to a space station known as the Ark. Something like 2500 people live on the Ark, but now its life support systems are starting to fail,and soon everyone there will die. They decide to send 100 good looking young juvenile delinquents (really) to earth as a kind of scout team, to find out if it is habitable, and if it is, to restart civilization there. Lots of monkey wrenches are thrown into the mix, and the result is far better than I was expecting it to be. Very good show and I look forward to continuing on with the series.

A few other shows that I will soon be checking out include;
Flash - All the episodes are on my dvr. Trying to catch up a bit more on Arrow before jumping into Flash. Everyone says its really good.

Z Nation - Saw a few episodes on syfy and they were cool. Now it's on Netflix and I will be diving into this show very soon.

Helix - Same scenario as Z Nation.

12 Monkeys - Another new series on syfy. Suppose to be quite good. Episodes are on the dvr, just waiting for a little free time to check them out.

Also need to check out Josh Gates new show, Expedition Unknown. Always liked Josh Gates and Destination Truth.
So yes I have been watching a bit of tv lately, and there is much more on the horizon, and in the queue, and on the dvr. Have fun, and go watch some tv!

MOVIE MUSINGS - A Creepy New Year - Top Ten Movies of 2014

Once again, this is just a list of my top ten favorite new movies of 2014. If I didn't see it, I can't rate it. Here we go;

10. Hunger Games 2 - Catching Fire. I enjoy the Hunger Game movies. Not life changing, but good fun. This one came out at the end of 2013, but I saw it at the theater in January 2014, so it still counts. Also saw part three this year, but I liked the action at the games in part two better than the more political aspects of part three.

9. Oculus - Slow burner creepfest. Most people hated it, not me. Very cool.

8. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty - This one was a total surprise to me. Went to see it at the local $2 theater, not expecting much of anything, and was shocked to watch an outstanding film that made me cry. Maybe I was just on my period or something, not sure. Loved it.

7. Expendables 3 - Fun stuff. Love the ham fisted humor and overt ridiculousness of these movies. Dolph Lundgren is so cool. Pure fun. I hope they continue making these forever.

6. Amazing Spiderman 2 - Lots of good and bad in this movie. Love when Spidey is in the suit. Jamie Foxx character of Electro is terrible to the point of embarrassing. Still very fun and enjoyable popcorn flick.

5. Annabelle - Very creepy. Love the setting and style. Well done old style horror. Fun for the whole family. Now we need a Robert the Haunted Doll movie.

There is a big separation right here as we move to the top four of the year. The top four were all so good that any of them could have been my top movie of the year.

4. John Wick - I never would have imagined Keanu Reeves as the Punisher, but that is what this movie is all about. Retired hitman that is out of the game gets robbed and his dog killed by Russian mobsters. Now he's back, and boy is he pissed. Total sleeper movie that I knew nothing about until going to see it. It is great!  Michael Nyqvist as Viggo the head of the Russian mob is amazing. A great actor in a great role. And for all you Keanu haters out there, and there are many, sorry to tell you that he is frickin' great as John Wick.

3. X-Men Days of Future Past - So damn good! Peter Dinklage as Bolivar Trask was worthy of an award. Michael Fassbender as Magneto is perfect. James McAvoy as a strung out Professor X. Evan Peters as Quicksilver. The time travel to the 70's. Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan. Great story, great execution. Absolutely love this movie!

2. Guardians of The Galaxy - Almost everyone on earth picked Guardians of The Galaxy as their favorite movie of 2014, and with good reason. It is awesome! The Star Wars for this generation no doubt. Action, humor, fun, sci fi, special effects, story, casting. It introduced characters to the general public that will be pop culture icons for many years in Rocket Raccoon and Groot. Chewbacca and R2D2 for modern kids.  Marvel has been killing it with their movies and GOTG is a home run. They couldn't have made a better movie....well, maybe one.

Captain Creepy's top movie of 2014 is

1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier - My top movie of the year and one of the top movies of my life. Winter Soldier worked for me on every level. It is a spy movie with super hero action, friendship, patriotism, heroism, humor, guts, and grace. This movie moved me. It is the definition of epic and shows what can be done with a film placed in the right hands of creative people with a vision. F*** Hydra, Hail Captain America!

Honorable Mentions -
1. Godzilla is really good and could have placed as high as 6th or 7th on the list. They did a good job with the big fella.
2. As Above So Below is worthy of viewing. Messed up horror thriller.
3. Divergent is good for fans of the Hunger Games, Maze Runner, and that style of movie.
4. American Hustle. Wonky but cool.
5. The Hobbit movies are really hard for me to rate. I enjoy them very much, but yet feel disappointed by them at the same time. They should have completed the story in two movies instead of three. Martin Freeman is great as Bilbo Baggins but yet seems like a background character in the 3rd film. Stupid choice in my opinion. He is the character that the viewer relates to and we see the world thru his eyes. Instead we are given some weird love story that no one wants to see between the dwarf and the elf chick. That was terrible. Also Legolas is cool, but when he jumps on the falling stones like Super Mario I'm at a loss for words. What the Hell? So I guess The Hobbit could have made my top ten, but I didn't put it there because it baffled me. Still rates an Honorable Mention.

That leaves me with one final entry for the year in movies 2014. Worst movie of the year. Hands down the worst thing I saw with nothing else coming close - Anchorman 2. I loved Anchorman, but Anchorman 2 is so bad that it's unbelievable. It looked cheap, was not well acted, and I could write a better script if I was in a coma. What were they thinking? Total pile of turds.

Overall a great year for movies. As I stated, any of the top four on my list were worthy of movie of the year in Captain Creepy's eyes. Super duper stuff! Be happy and stay Creepy.

FORTEAN FILES - Origin of The Real X-Files

There are stories and rumors that X-Files creator Chris Carter was given leaked information from the FBI about certain paranormal things as he was developing his show. Another story is that Carter was part of a control group that was allowed to read some top secret files about UFO's and was told to disclose bits of info through his show to the public. Is there any truth to this whatsoever?  I have no answer for that, but it does make for some interesting thought.
One story that is true is that the "X-Files" were a real thing. In the late 1940's and early 1950's there was a Special Agent is charge of investigating the UFO phenomena for the FBI. His name was Guy Banister.  The story is that Banister would travel around the country investigating UFO's, and when he finished an investigation he sent his report to FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover. The reports were marked "Top Secret", and given a special designation. The designation was "Subject Matter - X". The origin of the actual X-Files.
Banister's name pops up often throughout the years in many different areas, including conspiracies about JFK and other UFO related topics. He may even be an inspiration for a certain Morley cigarette smoking individual we all know, but those are stories for another day.
So whether actual documents and cases were used by Chris Carter in a fictionalized manner during his run of The X-Files remains a mystery, but the X-Files were, and possibly still are, real.
The Truth is Out There. X