Halloween in March, Kershner Exploration

I don't work, so I have a lot of dead time to fill and I like to set up little watch projects to work through over the course of the year to feel a little accomplished when I waste time with a film or show. The first couple months of this year were absolutely crazy, I was out of my apartment nearly as much as I was in it, so I didn't get much movie watching done let alone plan out projects. But I think I have some that are finalizing and that I will utilize this simple little blog to document.

Last year my two biggest projects were rewatching the entirety of the two classic slasher franchises, Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street. This year, I'm gonna do another classic slasher franchise with Halloween, watching all the Michael Myers films (sorry Halloween 3, though I do love you) through Resurrection in the early 00s. If I get through this quick, I might then add the Rob Zombie Duo and DGG trilogy. I will write my feelings on each of these films here as I watch them. I want to get a LITTLE bit more modern this year, away from all the 80s, so since I happen to own 7 of them on a used DVD collection I picked up for next to nothing, I thought I might do the Saw franchise cause I think I've only ever really seen the first three or so though I'm generally familiar with the plots of others (thanks Wikipedia).

A special project I got cooked out was motivated purely by curiosity. Irvin Kershner directed one of the consensus greatest films of all time in The Empire Strikes Back, and delivered entries in the RoboCop and Bond (unofficial) canons, but not a lot of people talk about the many films he directed in a long journeyman Hollywood career. So I want to, entirely for the first time, check out some of his non-franchise directing work and see what gems there are to be found!

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Path to War (2002): More TV Than HBO

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World Without Sun (1964) - Do You Think We Should Be Smoking in this Pressurized Chamber?

My entire knowledge of the filmography of Jacques Cousteau, outside of clips here and there, comes through pop cultural osmosis. When I was a young teenager I became an instant fan of The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou by Wes Anderson which I watched together with my stepfather who was a lifelong fan of cult/alternative comedy and we laughed our asses off no matter how dry the material is presented. When a few years younger still, like countless children of the 90s I became a dedicated fan of Spongebob Squarepants and its zany, often surreal sense of humor which included a French-accented narrator in certain “2 Hours Later” or whatever cutaway gags that it is obvious tribute to the great aquatic documentarian. So I knew certain stylistic things or stereotypes, but that is about it before I decided to watch World Without Sun at midnight on a weekday. This is the first documentary I’ve ever reviewed on here, so figuring the best way to go about it as I go along. The most strikin...

Blue Ridge Ben

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