Lord of the Reels

Digging for Corn in Crap: A Brief Introduction

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I love a fair amount of crap of movies and/or TV shows (and MAYBE more) that were once considered great to legendary but have in their later days turned to…..well….crap. So, in this series I aim to pick through the turds of cinema and TV that I still can’t help but love and see if there’s any pieces of “gold in dem hills” (such as acting, writing, under rated characters, good action, good writing, music or quotes and more) or if all that’s left is a giant crater of crap.

So join me, my fellow cynics as I delve deep into such decaying crumbling cinematic fossils and tumbling TV shows as: Dexter, Halloween, Supernatural (post season 5), The X Files, Friday the 13th, Roger Moore Bond films and much more. Join me on this adventure, as we both become Indiana Jones of The Junkyard. I hope you come along and don’t mind the smell. Prosit!

Supernatural TV Series Review

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How does one make a show that stands the test of time? Nay, how does one make a show good enough to stay on the air for over TEN YEARS and still continue to kick ass and take names? Now that truly requires finesse and a killer soundtrack. I am of course referring to Eric Kripke’s pride and joy, Supernatural, a show that I have loved passionately for a decade and oh my how time flies. So, what prey tell is this amazing spectacle of a show about? It starts out being about two estranged brothers who must team up to pick back up “The Family Business” and find their father when he goes missing from a “hunting” trip. What is the family business? Oh just hunting and eliminating “evil sons of b****s and raising a bit of hell”.

Who prey tell are these “evil sons of b****s” as protagonist Dean Winchester so profanely asked? Well, just your garden variety ghosts, demons, vampires, werewolves, shifters, wendigos and all manner of evil paranormal beings looking to crap on someone’s day. This later goes on to include Angels and more who become major players in later seasons. So, why does this show kick so much ass? Firstly, the chemistry between the two leads, Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester and Jared Padelecki as Sam Winchester respectively play off each other exceptionally well. Their chemistry really feels like they’ve known each other for years, like real brothers. It also plays out exceptionally, like a supernatural buddy cop action comedy. The show is also incredibly metamorphic, like a caterpillar into a butterfly, starting out as a horror show, but becomes far more epic in scope.

This happens when it brings an ambitious war between heaven and hell, which the boys are trapped in the middle of, making the show far more amazing and intense. Another massive plus to this show is its exceptional use of side characters, especially Castiel, Crowley, Bobby Singer, Rufus Turner and so many others I won’t even dare spoil here. Finally, this show is exceptionally Meta, knowing full well the tropes and cliches of its genre and itself and expertly satirizing itself, in a way that seems more of a tribute to fan culture then self-cannibalism. I literally could talk about Supernatural all damn day, I love it so damn much, but I’ll spare you my geek out. However, I feel that I’ve more than adequately discussed all of the pros to this show and why it’s must watch genre TV. However, the few cons are that season one on Netflix didn’t get the rights to the show’s epic soundtrack, but instead plays generic rock songs and season one and seven are a bit disjointed. However, like I said besides those two small flaws this show is truly exceptional in all of the best ways possible. So, as always I’m Lawrence Gaines from Lord of The Reels, inventing you to like, comment, and of course share the love.

Freaky Friday Review: Halloween

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Halloween is an impeccably AMAZING film and one of the best movies ever made. I’m not even just speaking as a fan boy but as a movie fan and I think that not only is it an incredible horror film but is also an ESSENTIAL piece of cinema in the history of film.

So why do I make that claim? It’s because this film is not just the progenitor of the slasher movie genre (although not the official first slasher that honor would either go to Psycho or Peeping Tom). It’s also one of the best directed movies of all time as well as being a zero to hero story of  a director who made an independent low budget film which launched an entire sub genre.

So what made this slasher movie so revolutionary? Multiple reasons I feel, firstly it established “the rules” of most horror/slasher films to come including “drugs equal death”, “only the virgin or most conservative (usually female) character survives” and more. John Carpenter also proves his exceptional skill as a director creating perfect tension by transforming the drab normalcy of typical suburbia into a terrifying nightmare neighborhood from hell.

The music and score is also brilliant also by John Carpenter and truly helps to establish an abysmal and intense atmosphere. Finally the characters of Michael Meyers are brilliantly written in their simplicity as they’re both the dark and light halves of their universe and while they’re both technically under developed but seem to work.

So all in all as I’ve said Halloween is not just one of my personal favorite films but also essential modern cinema so I can’t recommend this film high enough.

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