Tag: Hulu+

Movie Review: Happiest Season

 

Harper Caldwell (Mackenzie Davis) takes her girlfriend Abigail Holland (Kristen Stewart) to spend the holidays with her family. Abigail is the name of a concept album from King Diamond, which itself inspired the name of a sex-crazed black metal band from Japan. That has nothing to do with the movie, forgive me. Besides, they call her Abby 99% of the time. Tension arises when Harper reveals her family doesn’t know she’s a lesbian and Abby will have to pose as her roommate until Harper feels comfortable coming out.

Hiding their relationship leads to what doesn’t rise to the level of antics, but is still well outside recognizable human behavior. There are the routine misunderstandings, awkward dinners, and close calls. The one interesting detail of the plot is that Harper’s parents aren’t bible-thumpers. Her father (Victor Garber) is running for mayor, and though his speeches include vague references to “family values,” Harper’s reluctance is due to fear of hindering his campaign rather than offending his moral convictions. When everything inevitably comes out, it turns out Harper’s two sisters also feel stifled by their father’s insistence on projecting an image of a perfect family. It’s about overbearing parenting rather than bigotry.

That doesn’t let the movie off the hook. A parent you were justifiably worried about coming out to wouldn’t have a change of heart overnight. The audience for Happiest Season wouldn’t have it another way. They’re the type to make sure romance stories have the HEA tag before jumping in. They want a cozy visit to a world where any relationship can be mended with a heartfelt speech. You may question then why I chose to watch this. I have no one to blame except myself, since the trailer was clear about what was in store. My judgment was clouded by the fact that not only does Kristen Stewart play a lesbian, but so does Aubrey Plaza. There was a chance the movie could save me the trouble of writing a hot fan fiction.

Movie Review: Hellraiser (2022)

 

A couple weeks ago, Hulu released a reboot of Hellraiser. There hasn’t been a good Hellraiser movie since the first one and that came out before I was born, so it was strange to have any interest in a new installment. Stranger still to suffer even a bit of anxiety over how good it would be. After nine bad sequels, what harm could one more do?

The information we got before release was heartening. Attached to direct was David Bruckner, a notable horror director whose previous work (The Ritual, The Night House) has gone unseen by me but has received enthusiastic reviews. One of the producers was Hellraiser creator Clive Barker who hadn’t been involved with the series since the fourth entry, Bloodline, and when the trailer for the ninth, Revelations, included his name took to Twitter to complain, “If they claim its [sic] from the mind of Clive Barker, it’s a lie. It’s not even from my butt-hole.” (Dimension Films later removed the reference to him from the trailer.)

The reboot’s budget hasn’t been made public, but assuming it’s even a modest Hollywood production would make it more expensive than several of its predecessors put together.¹ This was not a slapdash job to hold onto the IP nor was it an unrelated script retrofitted to include Pinhead² as many of the direct-to-video sequels were reported to be.

Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah: Mickey Mouse Plans to Shove the 1619 Project Down America’s Collective Throat

 

I’m going to tip my hand here: I work for the Walt Disney Company. And the Walt Disney Company is easily the most Leftist, politically correct company on the planet. The only difference between working for Disney and the DNC is the characters at Disney are slightly less cartoonish.

Just when I thought things could not become more unbearable – and this is after nearly a year of sniveling, pandering e-mails, and virtual town halls about social justice and how the company is resolved never to give another white man another promotion ever again – today’s Zoom call began with coworkers talking about how “proud” and “emotional” they are to be a part of bringing the New York Times’ race-baiting, historically discredited 1619 Project to the masses as a series of propaganda programs across its television and online platforms.

I Cut the Cord

 

After threatening to do so for the better part of a year, I finally cut the cord yesterday. I mostly held on this long because of sports. With the exception of a few programs I watch with the girlfriend, or in some cases drink scotch and tolerate, all I watch is sports. I had an irrational fear that I would miss coverage of The Masters, US Open, or football. I should also mention my dog Norman watches The Golf Channel all day while I am at work. So I spent numerous mornings researching and became convinced Hulu Live was the right mix.

Still, I did not make the move. I decided I would downgrade to basic cable first — incrementalism people! I logged into my cable account where I was promptly asked if I wanted to upgrade with HBO. I then looked for how to change my services — it was nowhere to be found. They were ready and willing with a “team member” available to chat if I wanted to upgrade. So, I clicked yes, assuming if they could add services they could also take services away. Wrong. “That is not my department.”