The Cast of ‘The Lazarus Effect’ Talks about Life After Death

Posted on by The Ultimate Rabbit

WRITER’S NOTE: This article was originally written back in 2015.

The supernatural horror film “The Lazarus Effect” takes a cue from movies like “Frankenstein” and “Re-Animator” as it features a group of scientists who are intent on bringing the dead back to life. It stars Olivia Wilde and Mark Duplass as Zoe and Frank, a couple of medical professionals who have found a way to resurrect the deceased through the use of a serum they have named Lazarus. But during one experiment, Zoe suddenly gets electrocuted and dies, and Frank, in desperation, gives her the serum which successfully returns her to the land of the living. But in the process, Frank comes to discover that Zoe has developed some incredible abilities which makes him wonder if she brought something truly evil back from the dead with her.

One plot point in “The Lazarus Effect” concerns a nightmare Zoe keeps having where she is trapped in a burning house, and there is a door ahead of her which seems to have a raging fire waiting to burst out from behind it. Even more unsettling is that she also sees a pair of hands at the bottom of the door struggling to escape whatever fiery fate is coming their way. This nightmare gets a new meaning once Zoe is resurrected.

This nightmare reminding me of Joel Schumacher’s film “Flatliners” which starred Keifer Sutherland, Julia Roberts and Kevin Bacon as medical students who are very eager to discover what happens after you die. Each is made to die for a minute or two before they are resuscitated, and their afterlife proves to be a realm where they are tortured for the grievous and painful sins they committed in the past. Seeing that “The Lazarus Effect” kind of deals with the same thing, it made me wonder why these movies deal with the high psychic price to pay once we leave this mortal coil.

I got to ask the cast of “The Lazarus Effect” this during the film’s press conference held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles, California. To first to provide an answer was Donald Glover who plays the lab assistant, Niko. Best known for playing Troy Barnes on the cult television comedy “Community,” Glover said that death remains the one thing we don’t know about.

Donald Glover: I feel like we kind of live right now in a time where humans feel like we know everything now especially when we just pick up the phones and happily answer and people feel like everything is done. It’s like, “We did it guys! We have internet.” It was cool talking to Olivia (Wilde) and Mark (Duplass) about how people are actually doing research, and I was reading articles about doctors actually bringing people back to life. There was a New York cab driver who was like dead for, I think like, a while (laughs). They just brought him back, and now they are doing studies on post-death and stuff like that. This is why I really like this film. It felt special because there’s realness and people really don’t even understand what we are after that (death). I think it’s scary because we just don’t know it especially when we’re being told all the time we know everything.

Duplass followed up on Glover’s response by saying it reminded him of something he read about movies like “The Lazarus Effect.” In the process, he also elaborated on how the approach to this resurrection movie differed from others like it.

Mark Duplass: When a movie examines this type of subject matter, usually it’s either in the future or everyone is wearing some sort of like leathery, shiny black suits, and it’s kind of like not human (laughs). So, we all loved this idea, and that’s part of the reason David (Gelb, the director) cast a lot of us because maybe we’re more on the naturalistic side of performances, that we’re just so normal looking and normal acting research students going through this very un-normal thing. It was just exciting.

Indeed, death is something many of us do not want to think about, but the question of what happens to us when we pass away continues to linger in our minds. “The Lazarus Effect” is not meant to give a definitive answer to that, but along with “Flatliners,” it makes you want to make peace with all the bad things you did in your life before it is too late.

“The Lazarus Effect” is available on physical media and streaming platforms.

Attending the ‘Ouija’ Blu-ray Release Scavenger Hunt in Hollywood

Posted on by The Ultimate Rabbit

WRITER’S NOTE: The following article is about a movie event I very much enjoyed attending back in 2015.

Members of the press and a few select horror fans were in for quite a treat when Universal Pictures, along with Think Jam, put together a special party in honor of the Blu-ray and DVD release for “Ouija,” one of 2014’s most popular horror movie releases. Guests were treated to a haunted scavenger hunt which had them walking up and down Hollywood Boulevard, and it was followed by a séance open-bar event held at Boardner’s by La Belle.

The séances were conducted by Robert Murch, a renowned Ouija expert and film consultant, and guests got to drink special cocktails with names like “Evil Elixir,” a combination of champagne and Absinthe (a favorite spirit liquor of mine). Also in attendance were “Ouija’s” director Stiles White, actress Bianca Santos who played Isabelle, and the CEO of Blumhouse Productions, Jason Blum.

I was lucky enough to be on the team which won the scavenger hunt, and my fellow teammates and I were given the sole opportunity to speak with Blum for a few minutes about “Ouija” and other films he is responsible for bringing to the screen. His company, Blumhouse Productions, has been behind some of the biggest horror franchises of the past few years which include “Paranormal Activity” and “The Purge,” and he was also a producer of Best Picture nominee “Whiplash.”

The Ouija board is often referred to as a talking board used in séances to communicate with spirits, and participants place their fingers on a planchette to spell out whatever the spirit is trying to say. Some see it as a harmless game of sorts, but others strongly fear that using Ouija boards can lead to demonic possession. I remember Ouija boards being used in a number of films like “The Exorcist” where Linda Blair tries to communicate with Captain Howdy, “Awakenings” in which the late Robin Williams utilizes one in an effort to make a connection with a seemingly comatose Robert De Niro, and one was used to frightening effect in “Paranormal Activity” when an invisible force sets it ablaze while nobody is home.

Since many of us were familiar with these boards in one way or another, I asked Blum if he wanted to show us something different about them that we have not seen previously in any other film. His response highlighted what he really tries to do with the movies he makes.

Jason Blum: Well, I’ve never seen anyone look through the planchette before. I think that’s a new thing, and I love that idea of looking through a glass into the world of ghosts. It’s hard to make an Ouija board dramatic, so we tried to figure out how to do that, and I think they did a pretty good job trying to make it feel original. But that’s what I always tell people when we are working on a movie; try and make it different. That’s very un-Hollywood.

It was very refreshing to hear Blum say this as many movie producers do not like to stray far from formulas, and horror films are typically governed by them to where it is very difficult to make one which stands out from the pack. Blum agrees there are a lot of repeats to be found in the realm of motion pictures, but he remains intent on doing things differently on the horror films he produces. He openly admits that he does not always succeed, but there is no doubt that he definitely tries.

“Ouija” is available to own and rent on physical media and streaming services.

Underseen Movie: ‘The Congress’ in which Robin Wright Plays Herself

Posted on by The Ultimate Rabbit

“The Congress” is one of the most bizarre motion pictures I have ever seen, and I mean that as a compliment. It combines live-action scenes with animated sequences to tell a story about an actress who willingly gives up her identity so she can be digitized by a movie studio so they can make many films starring her. In the process, it offers a look at the value of one’s identity, how we are unique in our own way, and it questions whether or not it is worth it to give up who we are as individuals so that other people can take on our own identity. With the constant advent of AI in every facet of our lives, those questions are now more important than ever.

Robin Wright stars as a fictional version of herself in this movie. After so many years in which she appeared in such classic motion pictures like “The Princess Bride,” “Forrest Gump” and “Unbreakable,” she is presented here as a washed-up actress who has been in one box office bomb too many. Even worse, she has long since been seen as someone who is very difficult to work with. We see her living with her two children in an airplane hangar located right next to an airport, and this is due to her son, Aaron Wright (Kodi Smit-McPhee), being convinced he is the heir to the Wright Brothers. Aaron’s belief in this leads him to build huge kites on a regular basis.

It also turns out that Aaron is suffering from a rare condition known as Usher’s syndrome, a disease which causes partial hearing loss which gradually deteriorates into total deafness and blindness. Aaron believes he can be cured of it if he smashes one of his kites into a real passenger plane. Looking at this, it is no wonder Wright gave up on her acting career so she could be there for him.

Then one day her longtime agent, Al (Harvey Keitel) comes to her with a deal he has brokered with the head of Miramount Studios, Jeff Green (Danny Huston at his most cynical and slimy), to capture her cinematic identity in a digital format so he can put her in all sorts of movies she does not have to come to a studio to act in. Basically, she is asked to sell her identity and her soul to the studio, and in return she will receive a very hefty compensation which will allow her to look after her family. The only thing is that she has to agree never to act on any other stage in the world ever again, and this leaves the viewer wondering if this is worth such a price.

When Robin Wright was cast in “The Congress,” she was at a certain peak in her career thanks to her role as Claire Underwood on the Netflix series “House of Cards.” On top of that, she had given memorable performances in “Moneyball,” “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” (the David Fincher version) and in “A Most Wanted Man” in which she co-starred opposite the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman. In real life, we had no business considering her as anything close to a washed-up actress, but she is so convincing here to where any irony in the air was beside the point.

 “The Congress” takes place in a time where the economy is laser focused on scanning actors to where signing off your identity is easier than trying to make a living in show business. Now it has never been easy to make a living as an actor, but if this can happen to Wright, then it can happen to any actor. While we still may be way off from digital actors taking over for real life actors in movies, this reality is proving to be much closer to a reality than we would like to think or believe.

When we catch up with Robin in a distant future, this is when “The Congress” takes a serious left turn I did not see coming. She ends up entering a completely animated world where everything is being transferred to a chemical method which will allow everyone can be someone famous or anyone or anything other than themselves. The animation feels distinct from any other animated movie I have watched then and now, and it makes the experience of watching “The Congress” a unique one. This is a captivating world to be immersed into, but after a while you feel Robin’s concern as she comes to see her deal with the studio has come at a bigger price than she realized. While it might be fun to be someone other than yourself, is it really worth giving up your own identity in the process?

“The Congress” was written and directed by Ari Folman who directed the critically acclaimed “Waltz with Bashir.” With this movie he sucks us into a world which is full of an array of colors and possibilities, but once we discover this is part of a new Hollywood dictatorship, we become desperate to escape it. Robin comes to regret the decisions she has made as her identity no longer feels like her own, and her family has long since become the most valuable thing in her life as well.

After watching “The Congress,” it was hard for me to think of a better actress who could have been in this movie other than her. From start to finish, we are with Robin as she traverses her way through an ever-changing technology she cannot keep up with, and she is mesmerizing throughout. We feel for her as she attempts to salvage what is left of herself in this strange new world, and any kind of victory she ends up achieving here feels like a significant one.

The rest of the cast proves to be more than up to the challenge as they either play or voice their characters with a lot genuine emotion. In addition to Wright, Keitel and Smit-McPhee, we also have Jon Hamm who plays Dylan Truliner, an animator who invented Robin on Miramount’s computers and has long since become enraptured by her. Even Paul Giamatti shows up as Dr. Barker, and you can never really go wrong with an actor like him.

Seriously, the best way to enjoy “The Congress” is to walk into it with an open mind. It is far from the typical mainstream fare we see playing at our local multiplexes, and it takes you on a journey few movies can. In the process of examining the effects of a Hollywood dictatorship on the rest of the world, Folman has given us a motion picture which leaves you with a lot on your mind after the end credits. In this day and age, this is even more the case than ever.

* * * ½ out of * * * *

‘Emperor’ – A World War II Movie Which Could Have Been So Much Better

Posted on by The Ultimate Rabbit

“Emperor” is one of those movies I cannot help but view as a frustratingly missed opportunity. On one hand, it is the first contemporary Hollywood movie which takes place during the U.S.-led occupation of Japan at the close of World War II, and it uncovers a part of history many people are not fully aware of. But in the process of delving into the subject of whether a world leader should be punished for crimes against humanity, “Emperor” inevitably gets bogged down with a love story which takes away from all it could have been.

“Emperor” begins with an airplane descending into a Japan which has been decimated by atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II, and the country has long since announced its surrender. Coming out of this same plane is General Douglas MacArthur (Tommy Lee Jones) who has been tasked by President Harry S. Truman to restore order in Japan and prepare the country for democratic elections (sound familiar?). But the one big problem MacArthur has to contend with before any of this can happen is of what to do with Emperor Hirohito (Takatarô Kataoka). Should Hirohito be made to stand trial for brutal war crimes, or is there another way of moving Japan forward without having to do so?

General MacArthur ends up assigning General Bonner Fellers (Matthew Fox) to find out if Hirohito was in anyway responsible for the war crimes which were carried out, and if he was the one who ordered the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor. The scenes in which Bonner does his investigation and gathers evidence from survivors and Japanese military officers are among this movie’s most fascinating moments. We all know how World War II ended, but it’s the specific details about this operation which prove to be the most illuminating because many of us never got to read them in history books when we were kids like we should have.

But it turns out, however, that Bonner has an ulterior motive for going to Japan; he wants to search for his long-lost love Aya Shimada (Eriko Hatsune), a Japanese school teacher whom he met and fell in love with years before. We get flashbacks showing how their loving relationship began, and of how it eventually brought Bonner to Japan. It all proves to be a good device to show the cultural differences between America and Japan. Still, the romance subplot really just slows everything down, and I found myself getting bored as a result. Had this movie been more focused on the investigation into the Hirohito’s activities, it would have been far more enthralling as a result.

“Emperor” also could have used a lot more of Tommy Lee Jones as it is hard to think of another actor in this day and age who could have embodied General MacArthur better than him. The man who won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his work in “The Fugitive” gives this historical figure a Whenever Jones is onscreen, he steals every single scene he is in as he gives this real American hero a wonderful sense of humor and a no apology pro-American stance. Coming off of his Oscar nominated performance in “Lincoln,” Jones seems to be getting the roles he rightfully deserves to play these days.

Matthew Fox, who did this movie after doing the bizarre but compelling transformation he did for “Alex Cross,” and who is still best known for his work on the television series “Lost,” does very good work here as Bonners. Furthermore, he shares a very palpable chemistry with Hatsune in their scenes together. Still, this role only allows him to go so far as an actor as Bonners becomes just another guy searching for his long-lost love, and this is a story I have seen far too many times.

Directing “Emperor” is Peter Webber who, before this movie, gave us “Girl with a Pearl Earring.” With that particular motion picture, Webber was able to create a strong undercurrent of sexual tension between the characters portrayed by Colin Firth and Scarlett Johansson, and that he is unable to achieve this same tension between the characters here is both surprising and inescapably depressing. On the plus side, he does get good performances from his cast, and his cinematographer Stuart Dryburgh and production designer Grant Major both obtain some amazing shots of a war town Japan. I feel obligated to say this because the budget for this movie is much lower than it should have been, and the filmmakers succeed in making everything here look like it cost so much more.

Webber also directed the prequel “Hannibal Rising,” and I am still trying to finish my review of it after all these years. When it comes to my subsequent review, you can only hope for so much (if anything for that matter).

Learning more about this specific story of the American occupation in Japan brings to mind similar occasions in which America invaded other countries like Vietnam or Iraq to whip a little democracy on them. Whether or not it was the intention of the filmmakers to remind us of these conflicts, they do serve as a reminder of how we need to learn from the past to prevent the same things happening in the present. But in the end, “Emperor” feels like a history lesson which would have been better told in the a past where people should have been paying close attention.

Back in 2012, audiences were given many films based on historical or actual events like “Lincoln” and “Zero Dark Thirty.” Truly, I was really hoping “Emperor” would have been every bit as riveting, and the fact it is not is a crying shame. While it is not a terrible movie, and there a number of things about it which are very good, it is still a deeply missed opportunity as it will not leave much of an aftertaste once you finish watching it.

* * ½ out of * * * *

‘Coriolanus’ – Ralph Fiennes’ Adaptation of a Lesser-Known Shakespeare Play

Posted on by The Ultimate Rabbit

Ralph Fiennes made his directorial debut with “Coriolanus,” which is based on William Shakespeare’s tragedy of the same name. Fiennes also stars as Caius Martius, a Roman general who is both revered, feared, and at odds with his fellow citizens. Fiennes certainly picked a most challenging project for his first directorial effort, but having done many Shakespeare plays onstage, he has a mastery of the Bard’s infinitely passionate dialogue.

The action of “Coriolanus” has been moved to the present day to where parallels with Occupy Wall Street and the current wars in the Middle East can be seen. Caius has more than proven himself in combat, but the townspeople despise him for taking their food away. When he is pushed by his mother, Volumnia (Vanessa Redgrave), to seek the powerful position of Consul, fellow politicians scheme against him and get the town to expel him for good. This forces Caius to join forces with his blood enemy, Tullus Aufidius (Gerard Butler), in battling the Romans and seeking vengeance against those who betrayed his trust.

“Coriolanus” is one of the many Shakespeare plays you could do an entire thesis on as it covers many thematic elements. Whether it is the power of the people, the corruption of politics, the selfish desires of others or looking at what war does to some, you could spend so many hours discussing all which goes on here.

Fiennes gives a powerful performance as Caius, and certain scenes will enthrall the audience to where you can hear a pin drop wherever and wherever you decide to watch this film. While the townspeople’s anger at Caius may be justified, Fiennes convinces us he is a war veteran who has done his patriotic duty. This is not some mere power-hungry villain at play, but a instead man who feels he deserves more respect than he has been given. His flaw, however, is that he is incapable of respecting those he has spent his time defending.

As a director, Fiennes employs the same kind of shaky camerawork Kathryn Bigelow employed on is Oscar winning film “The Hurt Locker,” the same film which he made an appearance in. The bullets fly all over the place, and they all sound like steel swords clashing with rage. In addition, he also gets the actors to speak the Shakespearean language in a natural tone while giving those with bigger parts a chance to show off their amazing theatricality. The tone is a bit jarring at times, but everything comes together eventually.

Fiennes is also backed up immeasurably by an impeccable cast. Gerard Butler easily gives one of his best performances outside of “300” and “Olympus Has Fallen” as Tullus Aufidius, the commander of the Volscian army whose anger at Caius equals his passion for his people. Jessica Chastain is also an exceptionally strong presence as Caius’ wife, Virgilia. But the best performance to be found here comes from Redgrave who is a powerhouse as Caius’ mother, Volumnia. Chastain captures Volumnia’s controlling and manipulative nature to where she doesn’t just bring her son to his knees, but the audience as well.

“Coriolanus” does meander a bit here and there, and it threatens to bite off more than it can chew. But when all is said and done, this film is a powerful experience nonetheless. Kudos to Fiennes who picked quite the project to mark his directorial debut with as any lesser director would have easily failed in adapting such complex material. Some would have started with something easier, but not the man who portrayed Lord Voldemort.

* * * ½ out of * * * *

‘American Gangster’ – One of the Many Great Films from Ridley Scott

Posted on by The Ultimate Rabbit

What is it about gangsters which makes them so inescapably attractive? We have had so many movies about them over the years, and they just keep on coming at us like those greatest hits albums Aerosmith keeps releasing over and over again. Is it because they have such great power and generate such intense fear around everyone, even those they love the most? I think these characters tap into our darkest desires, the ones we would never openly admit to. We would love to have people look up to us and fear us. Seriously, let’s be honest. But if only we did not have to pay the consequences for such devious actions…

Gangster movies are among some of the best to watch. “The Godfather” trilogy is one of the most enthralling gangster sagas ever and, yes, I do include the third one. Michael Corleone’s descent from innocent family member to a vicious and cold-hearted crime lord is a grand tragedy. “Scarface” came out back in the early 1980’s, and now it is more popular than ever. And then there is “Goodfellas,” the penultimate Martin Scorsese film on which remains my all-time favorite, and which opened me up to the many things motion pictures can do.

And then there is “American Gangster” which comes to us from director Ridley Scott. This film proves to be a cross between “The Godfather” and “The French Connection” as it follows the rise of Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington) who becomes New York’s biggest supplier of heroin, and Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe), the cop who is doggedly on Frank’s tail. The events portrayed here takes us back to the 1960’s and the 1970’s as these men go about their business, and it looks at how they eventually collided with one another.

“American Gangster” doesn’t really bring anything new to the gangster genre as we can see the trajectory the film is going to take as soon as the words “based on a true story” appear. But what it does offer is another brilliant piece of filmmaking from Scott who keeps his eye focused on his two main characters and the world around them with tremendous detail. As a result, he takes what could have been an average gangster movie and turns it into a character study of two men living in an utterly corrupt world.

The two main characters are interesting stories in contradictions. Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington) is, on the surface, a devoted family man. He ends up buying a huge house for his mother, Mahalee (Ruby Dee), and takes her to church every Sunday, and he gets all his brothers involved in his business. The brilliance of Washington’s performance is how he almost makes you forget what his business is: drug dealing. There are some scenes where we see the effects of his product and how it ruthlessly destroys the lives of others. It is enough of a reminder to remind us of just how dangerous Frank is. While he goes to church to worship in the name of God, this not prevent him from performing such heinous deeds.

Then you have Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe), whose name seems to spell out law-abiding police officer in capital letters. Richie’s first act we see is him turning in a million dollars of drug money to the police department. While Richie does the right thing, his co-workers end up wanting nothing to do with him as a result. He says he is a cop bound by a strong moral code, and yet he cannot resist cheating on his wife, Laurie (Carla Gugino), and jeopardizing the custody battle for his young boy by sleeping with a dozen women in the New York area. While he is married to the law, he is not married as much to his family as he thinks.

We follow these two alpha males as they go on their separate journeys through a world which has seemingly lost all sense of law and order. We see how complicit the police department is in drug dealing. Through Frank’s character, we see how drugs are a big money-making business for the Army as he travels to Saigon to get his product from the vast fields of vegetation. What Scott accomplishes here is what Steven Soderbergh accomplished with “Traffic;” he shows how the drug trade, however illegal, is such an integral business in everyone’s lives to where it can never simply disappear. Watching “American Gangster,” you have to wonder where the center between right and wrong is. Beyond that, you come to wonder if there is any center at all.

This all reminds me of a George Carlin routine from his “Class Clown” album:

“Keep it in the black! Show a profit! Keep it in the black! Keep it in the black! Never mind your soul! Never mind your bank account! Keep it in the black! BUSINESS AS USUAL GOING ON!”

Scott sucks us completely into the look and sounds of past decades as we go from the urban jungles of New York to the trenches of Southeast Asia in a way we have only read about. I love watching movies which suck you into a time and place to where you are not watching a movie as much as you are experiencing one. To quote Walter Cronkite, you are there.

The screenplay was written by Steven Zallian, and he remains one of the very best screenwriters working in movies Steven Spielberg has credited him for taking the unfilmable stories and making them possible to bring to cinematic life. “American Gangster” was based on the article “The Return of Superfly” by Marc Jacobson, and Zallian succeeds in taking elements which could have been utterly predictable and has made them feel fresh here.

Washington continues to be one of the very best actors working, and you can tell he is having a blast playing bad guys as much as he does portraying good guys (if not more). As Frank Lucas, he creates a character who is in many ways noble in how he holds family so close to where you can see how seductive he is in bringing them all into a realm of immorality. He makes you never doubt how dangerous Frank is, and there are moments where he is so unpredictable in his actions to where he becomes infinitely frightening. This is especially the case when he confronts another character played by Idris Elba, and it results in once of the most unforgettable, let alone brutal, scenes this film has to offer.

Crowe gives us a character in Richie Roberts who is not entirely brave, but also not altogether cowardly either. While Richie may not always be the bravest of cops, he is certainly the most morally strong one to be found here. And this is even though he constantly fails to be a faithful husband. I never ever see Crowe coasting through any of his roles, and he certainly doesn’t do that here.

There are other great performances to be found here as well. Ruby Dee plays Frank’s mother, Mahalee, and she is the moral force Franks needs to listen to here. Mahalee is not blind to what Frank is really doing, but she makes it abundantly clear there is a line he cannot cross. Another great performance is given by Josh Brolin who plays the corrupt and threatening Detective Nick Trupo, a man who seems to have no problem with drug trafficking as long as he can profit from it. His character threatens to become as bad as Frank and in the last half of this film, he looks to have no soul left for salvation.

The climatic scene comes when Frank and Richie are face to face in an interrogation room, and it is a great scene which reminded of when Al Pacino and Robert De Niro faced off against one another in Michael Mann’s “Heat.” They both communicate the realities of the world they are in as they see it, and neither is willing to give up on what they intend to accomplish. The fact Richie gets the upper hand almost seems amazing, considering how just about everyone around him is complicit in drug trade. So many cops and judges look to be so easily bought, and this case ended up bringing down an insanely high number of law enforcement officers. And when we watch Frank in the film’s final scene, we wonder if anything has changed at all.

“American Gangster” proves to be one of the many great movies directed by Ridley Scott. And yes, I do include “Prometheus.”

My man!

* * * * out of * * * *

Winnie-the-Pooh and the Bloody Movie That’s NOT for Kids

Posted on by The Ultimate Rabbit

It was released back in 2023, but I still have not seen “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey.” This is a horror film which came about when A.A. Milne’s “Winnie-the-Pooh” went into public domain and led filmmaker Rhys Frake-Waterfield to concoct this tale of the “silly old bear” turning into a viciously feral animal after Christopher Robin leaves the Hundred Acre Wood for college. Piglet joins Pooh on a murderous rampage when a group of young female university students make the mistake of renting a cabin in the Hundred Acre Wood.

Like I said, I have not watched “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey.” While the idea of turning this chubby little cubby all stuffed with fluff into a slasher this side of Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers or Jason Voorhees seems to promise an entertaining and trashy time at the movies, watching the trailer made me believe the filmmakers did nothing more than simply give audiences another generic horror movie with the usual cliches which have defined this genre far too often. Plus, Eeyore is not in this film, and everybody who knows me knows I have been a die-hard Eeyore fan forever. Had this clinically depressed donkey had a bigger role, I would have given it a look.

Anyway, I bring this up because I was recently reminded of a news story from October 2023 when a fourth-grade teacher at a charter school in Florida, in this case The Academy of Innovative Education, ended up showing his students this poorly reviewed horror flick. From what I have been told, the teacher showed his students this film because they selected it from the various options given to them, but they eventually asked the teacher to turn it off as they in no way expected this “silly old bear” to commit heinous acts of violence.

Understandably, the children were traumatized, and the parents were very pissed off (can you blame them?). One parent, Michelle Diaz, said she felt “completely abandoned” by the school, and that it was not up to the children to decide what movie to watch in the slightest. She also added that the teacher should have researched its content before anything else, and I could not agree with her more.

Seriously, what was this teacher thinking? There are so many ways you can research a movie and its content. You can check its rating, and whether it is rated G, PG, PG-13, R or NC-17, there is a description underneath as to why the movie is rated as such. And when it comes to R-rated motion pictures, the descriptions are always tremendously entertaining. Take Rob Zombie’s magnum opus, “The Devil’s Rejects,” for example. The theatrical cut was rated R for “sadistic violence, strong sexual content, language, and drug use.” Now this should be enough of a reason to avoid taking your five-year-old to see it, and not just because you cannot afford a babysitter. For others, it may prove to be a major selling point. Horror buffs in particular will look at this description and say to one another, “Gnarly! Let’s check it out!”

Now in the case of “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey,” it was released unrated, so it may not have come with such a description. I am not even sure if this cinematic work of speculative fiction was even screened for the MPA (formerly the MPAA). Had it been, I imagine they would have neutered the hell out of it as if it were the average “Friday the 13th” sequel.

In addition, you can find out so much about any film if you visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDB), you can have the plotline and events completely spoiled for you on Wikipedia, you can check on Rotten Tomatoes if it has a fresh or rotten score, and the reviews on the site should give you a solid idea if it is appropriate or not for a preschooler. There are other websites out there designed for parents to inform of them of inappropriate material for children in a movie. Please reply in the comments if you know of any specific websites like those. I know they are lurking out there somewhere on the world wide web.

Now at this point, many will say that Winnie the Pooh is in this movie’s title, and that the name brings about feelings and images of innocence, friendships and cuddly animals we all want plush toys out of. This A.A. Milne creation does not bring up any quick comparisons to “Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer,” and seeing him wear a hockey mask like Jason Voorhees was unthinkable for decades.

But here’s the thing: the word “blood” is in this movie’s title. Doesn’t that word trigger anybody anymore? Did that Miami teacher even take this into account? I mean, how many other “Winnie the Pooh” stories, specials and movies have featured the word “blood” in the title? There was the “Blustery Day,” there was “Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too,” there was another about the honey tree Pooh was jonesing to get into, and there is no forgetting the day with Eeyore (my personal favorite).

What else could have been implied by having the word “blood” in the title of this deeply twisted motion picture? I shudder to think as it would surely make both Walt Disney and A.A. Milne roll over in their graves, cryogenic or otherwise. Imagine the following cinematic scenario:

“Pooh, what are doing?”

“I found something sweeter than honey, Christopher Robin. It’s the blood of Christ!”

“Silly old bear!”

“No, seriously. I am here to save your soul!”

But hey, the implications of this movie title could get even worse and more unimaginable. Just think:

“Christopher Robin! What is that?”

“Kanga is menstruating Pooh. Want to take a closer look?”

“Oh bother, I have now lost my appetite for honey!”

Imagine Piglet observing this taking place. He would have ended up having the mother of all panic attacks.If he could get a word out in the process, that would have been extraordinary.

So basically, you cannot convince me that you are not being well-informed on movies being released today. All sorts of warning signs are there for you to research, and that’s regardless of whether or not you are a Miami schoolteacher. Please do not tell me you were not warned. As for the children, I hope they got the mental health talk they needed. What may seem silly and cheap to us adults is a child’s horrific horror show. Granted, “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey” was made for only $50,000 dollars, and the trailer does not betray its low budget and reeks of severe cheapness, but even the cheapest character mask can be every bit as traumatizing as watching the horse Artax drown in “The Neverending Story.”

Meanwhile, “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey” has come to inspire the Twisted Childhood Universe which has filmmakers taking such lovable characters from our childhood and turning them into bloodthirsty slashers. So far, we have gotten “Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare,” “Bambi: The Reckoning,” and “Pinocchio: Unstrung” was just released overseas. Other twisted childhood movies in development include “Awakening Sleepy Beauty,” “Snow White Returns” “Tigger’s Return,” and there is another coming featuring Mary Poppins. As for America, we have gotten “Popeye the Slayer Man,” and “Screamboat” which is a shameless reimagining of “Steamboat Willie” where a group of New Yorkers get terrified by a monstrous mouse. Canada has gifted everyone “Mickey’s Mouse Trap” which has a hypnotized manager wearing a Mickey face who terrorizes innocent people in an amusement arcade, and a sequel is currently in development.

As for myself, I am waiting for “Eeyore Resurrection” which could be something along the lines of “In a Violent Nature.” Whereas the corpse of serial killer Johnny rose from the dead to reclaim the locket stolen from him, Eeyore could rise from the dead to retrieve his tail which, apparently, was used as a weapon in “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey.” Eeyore could be threatening innocents with a machete, and one could be pleading for their life to where the depressed donkey could raise his machete in the air and say, “So long little butterfly!”

Or maybe Eeyore could be chasing other teenagers down in a car equipped with some kind of buzzsaw on the hood. While they try to run away from Eeyore’s death machine, he could be saying to himself, “Can’t avoid the inevitable!”

Seriously, we could have Busta Rhymes co-star in this, and it could one of the most penultimate moments a horror movie could ever have:

“Who are you?”

“I’M A HEFFALUMP, MUTHA FUCKA!!!”

But not to worry, I will make sure parents know it is not appropriate for most children. As artists, we do have the responsibility to warn others.

Seriously, have to have a strong idea of what you are about to watch.

Attending the No Kings Rally in Thousand Oaks

Posted on by The Ultimate Rabbit

After having been too busy with work over the past year or so, I finally got to attend my first ever No Kings rally on March 28, 2026. And while the focus was on major cities like Los Angeles, New York and Minneapolis among others, I decided to head over to Thousand Oaks as I was worried that getting in and out of Downtown Los Angeles would be too chaotic. But there was another reason; I lived in Thousand Oaks when I was young from 1982 to 1987, and it always holds a special place in my heart. I always try to visit there whenever I can as I have fond memories of this city, and moving away from there was very difficult.

Well, Thousand Oaks certainly did not let me down on this day. There was a sizable turnout just outside of The Oaks Mall with signs and costumes aplenty, and the honking of car horns was never ending as everyone made their voices heard loud and clear. While the turnout in major cities may have been enormous, and this is apparently the biggest No Kings day yet, this gathering proved to be more intimate as we protested Trump’s abysmal Presidency, bemoaned the ridiculously high gas prices (it is around $6 dollars a gallon in Southern California), expressed our anger at the abuses of ICE, and we all made sure to mention the name Epstein at least nine times.

While I typically film events like this with my digital camcorder, I decided to capture footage using my Google Pixel phone. The downside of this was that the image is a bit smaller than what my camcorder could have given us. As much as I tried to blow up the image so that it could fill up the entire screen, I was unable to do so. If anybody knows of a way to do that through Wondershare Filmora, please let me know. Nevertheless, I present you this video of what I observed as walked along the streets of Thousand Oaks. I hope you like what you see, and don’t give up the fight.

I also uploaded the video to my Instagram page if you want to check it out there instead of on You Tube.

Click here to visit the No Kings website.

Oh, and by the way, this is the shirt I wore for this rally:

UPDATE: I did another version of my video, and I managed to fix it to where the images are enlarged and fill the whole screen. Please feel free to let me know which version you prefer.

‘(500) Days of Summer’ – A Romantic Comedy I Love and Can Tolerate

Posted on by The Ultimate Rabbit

I keep thinking of “The Simpsons” episode where Homer and Marge try to teach Bart and Lisa about how great love is. But in the process of looking over their kids’ experience with love, they end up doing more damage than good. Marge reminds Bart of when he had a crush on the older girl who lived next door, and it ends up taking us to the scene where said girl tells Bart how excited she is because she now has a boyfriend. Then you have that imagined scene where the she pulls Bart’s heart out of his chest and throws it to the ground. Back to reality, Bart tells his well-meaning mother:

“Thanks for reopening old wounds mom!”

That whole episode was going through my head as I watched Marc Webb’s “(500) Days of Summer.” I found it to be one of the most intimate portrayals of the amazing highs and debilitating, and we are talking seriously debilitating, lows of love and relationships. This has been called by some as “Annie Hall” for a new generation and, along with “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” it is one of the best films I have seen about the messiness of relationships.

The story centers on the touching yet odd relationship between Tom Hansen (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and Summer Finn, two co-workers employed at one of those Hallmark greeting card companies. Webb and the film’s screenwriters, Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, have also taken the approach of showing this relationship in a non-linear format, going from when Tom and Summer break up to when they first met and then back and forth in time to where moments inform both the past and the present, let alone the future.

Webb has said this film is more a coming-of-age story than a romantic comedy. Still, a large part of me would like to call it the latter as it puts so many others of this desecrated genre to utter shame. They all revolve around the same kinds of characters who are complete opposites, and they remain to where each film is indistinguishable from the next. While many may find comfort in always knowing how the story ends, I find it depressing and at times shallow and false. This one doesn’t work like that though.

Neustadter has admitted this is based on a real relationship he had, and of the love and brutal heartbreak that came went with it. With Summer, we see a person whose belief in true love was shattered following her parents’ divorce. With Tom, his belief in true love came about after completing misinterpreting the climax of “The Graduate.” As a result, this film has characters I can truly relate to.

“(500) Days of Summer” has many wonderful moments which vividly capture the different stages of a relationship. While we remember more of what went wrong than right, the moments of happiness stand out just as powerfully. There’s a great moment where Tom Hansen is on his way to work, and it then turns into a hilarious musical number done to Hall & Oates’ “You Make My Dreams Come True.” Yes, you can always count on songs from the 1980’s to lift up your spirits to an unrealistically high.

The moments where we see Tom in a state of depression ring much truer than I would ever care to admit. Romantic rejection can make one feel so completely worthless, and it takes forever to dig oneself out of that dark emotional hellhole. I think this is why most romance movies today are comedies, because we have to laugh at these things at times so they don’t drive us crazy. All of this reminds of a great piece of dialogue uttered by Ned Beatty from “Homicide-Life on the Street:”

“A woman can affect a man totally. How woman feels about a man, that’s how he’s gonna feel about himself, his friends, his job.”

As Tom Hansen, Joseph Gordon-Levitt is perfectly cast and comes across as likable without ever being overly obnoxious. Every emotional moment he experiences here rings true to what we have experienced in our own lives, and it is done with complete conviction. The moment where we he is running down the street after seeing his expectations ruined by reality is bound to bring back the worst pain you have felt when you realize a relationship has ended, permanently.

Then you have Zooey Deschanel who has the loveliest eyes of any actress I can think of off the top of my head. She really stole my heart as Summer, a young woman who has been conditioned to believe in anything but true love. While she clearly likes Tom Hansen, she cannot bring herself to love him because it can never seem real to her. Deschanel has such a lovingly sweet presence, and it makes Levitt’s constant yearning for her very understandable.

These two characters are really good, if not perfect, together, and I love the unforced way they become a couple. The chemistry between Gordon-Levitt and Deschanel is wonderful, and seeing them here made me want to see these two to stick it out together. That they don’t is a painful reminder of how unfair love can be, and of how Trent Reznor sings about him wanting something he can never have.

Webb, who would later go on to direct the two “Amazing Spider-Man” movies, gives “(500) Days of Summer” a beautiful look which captures the rollercoaster of moods witnessed throughout. With this film, which was his feature film directorial debut, he shows he can balance out getting strong visuals with getting great performances from his actors.

While romantic comedies remain a damaged genre to where I still find myself running away from them at full speed to this very day, “(500) Days of Summer” gives me hope that they can be better. But better yet, here’s hoping humans can find a connection with other humans despite the advances in technology and social media. This film came out before those things really took hold of our lives.

* * * * out of * * * *

‘The Conjuring: Last Rites’ Movie and 4K Review

Posted on by The Ultimate Rabbit

The following review was written by Ultimate Rabbit correspondent, Tony Farinella.

“The Conjuring: Last Rites” is the final film in “The Conjuring” franchise, which has been wildly popular and a staple in the horror genre since the first film was released in 2013. In total, it is the ninth film in “The Conjuring” universe, which also includes the two “Nun” films along with three “Annabelle” films. While not all of them have been home runs, there is a certain style and craftsmanship that goes into the films which is hard to ignore. Most of all, the films are powered by the powerful performances of Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the paranormal investigators who love helping those in trouble, but not as much as they love each other. They are the lifeblood of these films. Without them being the emotional compass, the films would simply be ghost stories with some jump scares here and there.

This film opens in 1964, as Ed and Lorraine Warren are investigating a mysterious murder at an antique shop while Lorraine is pregnant. While there, she comes across a mirror which holds ominous and sinister forces within it, which almost causes her to lose her child, Judy, during childbirth. Fast forward to two decades later, and Judy (Mia Tomlinson) is in a relationship with a former police officer named Tony (Ben Hardy), and they are on their way to meet up with the Warrens for Ed’s birthday party. Ed and Lorraine are in semi-retirement because of Ed’s heart, and they mostly are giving tours on college campuses, which are usually met with jokes about the Ghostbusters. They are struggling to find their purpose in life without being full-time paranormal investigators. Ed has the itch to get back into things, but he needs to look out for his health and slowdown, which isn’t coming naturally to him.

Meanwhile, in Pennsylvania, the Smurl family, which includes the husband, wife, four daughters and two grandparents, are starting to have some real challenges after they come across a haunted mirror that was given as a gift to one of the daughters after her first communion. At the same time, Judy is starting to have visions, the same ones she had when she was younger. Her mother tells her to block them out, but that’s becoming harder to do each and every day. It won’t be long before the Warrens and the Smurls are forced to confront their problems and figure out how they are connected to each other and how they can fix them. If they don’t, it may be fatal for all parties involved.

“The Conjuring: Last Rites” is directed by Michael Chaves, who is no stranger to this franchise, having directed the previous “Conjuring” film along with “The Nun 2.” He’s a talented director, and he knows how to create an atmospheric film that is moody and ominous, and he shows off the time and place in which it is set.  Chaves knows how to create haunting horror imagery on screen, but he doesn’t quite know how to make it all pay off in the third act. It also doesn’t help that the film is two hours and fifteen minutes, which makes it the longest film in “The Conjuring” universe. While it held my attention for a very long time, the payoff didn’t feel satisfying.  It left me feeling like the film ended on a flat and rather unremarkable note. All of the performances are top-notch, especially from Wilson and Farmiga. They know how to bring humor, pathos and intelligence to the film.

Overall, this is a case of trying to create the same magic time and time again, but sometimes it simply isn’t there. By no means is this a bad film, but it doesn’t have the impact or power it should have, especially considering this is the final film in this franchise. Of course, they can always do more “Annabelle” or “Nun” films, but as far as “The Conjuring” franchise, this is the end. However, you can’t always believe that when it comes to horror films, especially considering the money this one made. It is entertaining and made with style, but it doesn’t know how to wrap things up in a concise and efficient manner. By the time the shit hits the fan, the film has overstayed its welcome.  These films are best when they are about one hour and forty-five minutes, or maybe two hours. Anything longer than that, and they are overstaying their welcome.  There is no need for this film to be two hours and fifteen minutes.  There are certain scenes which feel like they would have been better as deleted scenes instead of being included in the final cut.

“The Conjuring: Last Rites” is a film I enjoyed watching until I started to become disinterested and restless by what was happening on screen. I liked a good majority of it, but as stated previously, it really falls apart in the third act.  It had a feeling of “been there, done that.”  The strong points include the performances of its two leads, the direction of Michael Chaves, and the overall style and look.  Its weaker points include its length and its ending.  I was happy to have watched it and it’s a fun horror movie, but it didn’t have the sense of urgency and power of the previous installments in this franchise.

* * ½ out of * * * *

4K Info: “The Conjuring: Last Rites” is released on a single-disc 4K from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.  It comes with an impressive slipcover and a digital copy as well. It also comes in a steelbook version.  It has a running time of 135 minutes and is rated R for bloody and violent content along with intense terror.

4K Video/Audio Info: The film comes with a Dolby Vision transfer, which looks perfect on 4K.  The HDR really brings out the dark blacks of the film and creates a spooky experience watching it at home.  The same is true of the Dolby Atmos track, which really pops during the jump scares which are sprinkled throughout.

Special Features:

Last Rites: An Era Ends – featurette

The Conjuring: Crafting Scares – featurette

Michael Chaves: Believer – featurette

Should You Buy It?

As I was watching “The Conjuring: Last Rites” with my wife for the first hour and a half, I was saying to her, “I’m really enjoying this movie.  It has me on the edge of my seat, and the story is unfolding perfectly.” However, all of that good mojo started to fade in the rearview mirror by the time the film was wrapping things up with its third act.  I started to become fatigued and disinterested in the conclusion of the story. It took a long time to get where they needed to go, and when they finally did wrap things up, it didn’t seem to matter much anymore. Still, this is an OK film that will play well on HBO Max or on streaming. I don’t think it’s the kind of film you need to run out and purchase right away, unless you want to own all four of “The Conjuring” films on physical media. I’m still waiting for the second film to hit 4K, which will hopefully be very soon. This film looks and sounds terrific on 4K, and I really liked the slipcover version of it. I really wanted to recommend it, but the ending was flatter than four o’clock.

**Disclaimer** I received a copy of this film from Warner Bros. to review for free.  The opinions and statements in the review are mine and mine alone.