Category Archives: Uncategorized

Oct6

Carpe Scream Day 6

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So, today I saw the 3rd installment of the Omen franchise, The Omen III, (The Final Conflict)

The Omen III The Final Conflict, 20th Century Fox

This movie was a rather dissappointing finale to the storyline. There’s just a whole lot of nothing happening in it and it’s chock full of thrilling poorly-lit action sequences.

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Pictured: Actual action-packed action (probably).

Seriously, when you compare this to the almost cartoony deaths of Omen II, these deaths are almost like in Disney movies when we have the bad guy fall off a cliff into shadow.

When things do start to happen (at around the Half-hour mark) it gets good. Sam Neil has some great performances and things start moving, we’re introduced to the second Christ, and then…. a baby-killing sequence. Fun. Stuff. I get that it’s supposed to set the tone and be a parallel to the infant genocide of King Herod, but it’s a gruesome sequence and uncomfortably long.

It’s also the 3rd movie where we’ve seen absolutely no conflict of powers between God and Satan. Whenever Satan attacks something holy, it’s a one-sided struggle (and I use the word struggle lightly). It’s the 3rd movie, and we’ve still seen no real conflict, not even an internal one, which they hinted at in the second movie.

When Damien is a little boy, he’s weaker, vulnerable, and there’s a sense of danger and uncertainty. Now that Damein is a big strapping grown-up, it’s pretty boring.

Please, Lord, help to ease Monica’s pain and let her not have to watch this movie again, Thy will be done.

I was hoping for an ultimate showdown at the end, but end came as a quick “bam”, some cheesy lights, and the Mormon Tabernacle choir. UGGH. There was so much more they could have done with this if they’d led with characters and not with events.

Final note on the Franchise: Watch movies one and two, and then read Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. 

Oct6

Inktober Day 5

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And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why you don’t ask your friends to “challenge you.” I put out a general shout-out on Facebook for drawings of my original characters in various states and my friend Danny Valentini asked if I could do a picture of his Donuts For Looking analogue, Barney Valentine…NAKED. And so this happened.

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Italian Nude with Cherry Blossoms, by Monica Marier

Now, I’m only guessing at most of the details here, but being Italian myself I think I’m on the right track. He reminds me of “Bellini” from Kids in the Hall.

I leave you with these parting words, “Curse you, Danny. CURSE YOU.”

Oct5

Carpe Scream Day 5

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Today, I watched one of my Halloween Favorites: Sleepy Hollow

Sleepy Hollow, 1999 Paramount Pictures

Let me just start out by saying, that this movie is pretty much what I wanted Sweeny Todd to be. It’s just so much over-the-top, gory, grimdark fun! It’s got its weak points like the zero-chemistry between Depp and Ricci, the terrible writing for Katrina’s character, and oodles of anachronisms (yes, I know, it’s just silly fun!). But the stark palette of black, white, and red is visually gripping. Elfman’s terrifying score gives me fever chills every time I listen to it. It also features a large talented cast of “Hey,I know that guy!” fame.

Pictured: Alfred, Principal Rooney, Chancellor Palpatine, Uncle Vernon, and Dumbledore

All and all, the wonderful cast and story, are all whimsically dark and entertaining. I harbor a secret wish that Burton returns to some of this witty, nutsy, style of movie soon. Hell, he can even stick Depp and Bonham-Carter in it. What the hell.

Fun Fact: Johnny Depp himself stated that Ichabod Crane was an easy character to get a hold of, once he imagined himself playing a 16-year-old girl.

Escort Miss Depp to the fainting couch.

DOUBLE FEATURE

These days, I ALWAYS follow up this movie with the Disney Short of the same story.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, 1949 Walt Disney Pictures

This one is much more faithful to the original story, in fact the narration is taken almost entirely from it. And it’s narrated by the king of the velvet voice, Bing Crosby. Disney perfectly captivated this wonderfully humorous story of two ruthless gold-diggers out to nab the richest, hottest peach in town.

She’s got huuuuuuuuge tracts of land!

My favorite part is the Halloween Dance and the musical number Bing performs. This cartoon used to scare the hell out of me as a kid, but damn if I didn’t love every bit of it.

This is definitely one of my favorite stories and an American Treasure.

Oct5

Carpe Scream Day 4

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Today’s Carpe Scream, I decided to have some fun. I looked up the 1958 psychological horror B-movie, The Screaming Skull.

The Screaming Skull, 1958 American International Pictures

This one is just a corny cheese-fest. It starts off with the producers of the film making the grandiose claim that the finale of the movie is so terrifying that they promised a free coffin to anyone who dies of fright while viewing it. The premise and plot is actually pretty good, and the ending was a fairly good surprise and very entertaining.. The only problem is that there’s only about 20 minutes of story in this movie. Poor editing, bad pacing, and a lot of awkward silences where nothing is happening drag this out to a yawn-inducing 68 minutes. As Mystery Science Theater pointed out, “they took a tiny movie and put it in a huge box full of packing peanuts.”  That being said, there’s a lot of great moments in this movie, and one can’t help seeing the brilliance under the truckload of packing peanuts.

Safest. Bet. Ever.

Oct3

Inktober Day 3

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Here’s Day 3 of Inktober. I drew Linus from CRIT! He’s actually tossing a D8 over his shoulder, that part’s not put in yet, since my mathematical perspective is strictly non-euclidean. Media is Pen and Ink. This is going to be on a big CRIT! banner at some point. I like how I managed to get more scar tissue on his skin.

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Linus Weedwhacker, by Monica Marier

Oct3

Carpe Scream Day 3

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Well, I’ve seen the Omen several times, so I decided to finally watch the sequel…

Damien Omen II, 20th Century Fox

I have to say, this one is slightly less of a thrill ride. The pacing is pretty slow, and the movie relies more on stunning color pallets and gorgeous location shots than it does on plot.

Apart from that, I like that we got to know Damien’s character as he’s starting to grow up and discovering his dark powers. Johnathin Scott-Taylor’s performance as the 12-year-old antichrist is really captivating and heartbreakingly sympathetic at times. I also love that we get to see another huge classic actor like William Holden take the reins as the next father figure/martyr. Plotwise, I had to laugh because it’s almost like a very dark version of Harry Potter.

“Yer a Wizard, Harry.”

The only thing I didn’t like was that we spent so much time with “Uncle Rich’s” work and a lot of side plot-lines that seemed disconnected and didn’t really seem to go anywhere except to provide us with a body-count. The deaths themselves were also faster, bigger, splashier, and in the end more cartoony than interesting, because they had to top Patrick Troughton’s skewering and David Warner’s decapitation. I laughed at every cheesey death, where with the first Omen movie, I gasped. They could have trimmed all that and added more scenes of Damien bumping off classmates and teachers while discovering himself as a man to make it better. Like discovering girls…

“…and then I set her on fire!” Hahahahaha!

I’ll probably go ahead and watch the Omen III and IV to see how I like the over-arching story, but maybe I’ll do it later.

Oct2

Inktober Day2

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Day 2 of the Inktober Challenge, and here is an attempt at Quince the Barbarian. Big Muscley men are very strange to draw because their proportions always seem, just WRONG. I even did this with a photo-reference and I remember looking at all the photos of muscley men and thinking they just look like cartoons, and made of clay. Oh well. Minimal lines, since I intend to colour this. See you all tomorrow.

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Oct2

Carpe Scream Day 2

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In keeping with our inadvertent theme of happy family life, Day 2’s feature was The Omen.

The Omen 1976, 20th Century Fox

First of all, I’ll just state for the record that I ADORE Gregory Peck and David Warner. I’d watch them in damn near everything. Secondly this is just a solidly good movie. I have no idea why they remade it (especially since, from what I can tell, it was shot-for-shot and line-for-line identical). I love soundtrack, the characters (especially David Warner) and the plot from beginning to end. (And the Doctor mark 2 Patrick Troughton as a brilliantly creepy fallen priest seeking redemption.) Oh, and David Warner, did I mention him?

Dat hair.

And Once again, this movie makes some great parallels between the true nature of fear and the strange quirks of ordinary children that drive parents to madness. Also, as a Catholic, I adore a great good vs. evil plotline with all the clout of biblical angelic battles for dominance, unless those stories run for 4 freaking seasons *cough* supernatural *cough*

I highly recommend this one for a good horror that’s more thriller than a gore fest, that has a strangely classical feel to it and a fantastic tragic hero.

And they get an honorable mention for having a tricycle scene that’s almost as scary as The Shining.

A for effort, Damien, but Danny Torrence did it better.

Oct1

INKTOBER DAY 1

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Let’s start this Inktober with a bang! Here’s a piece I’ve wanted to do since I reread the Silmarillion. I finally got around to doing, Melkor and Ungoliant destroying the two trees. There’s supposed to be big tree roots in the foreground, but I think I’m going to do those in the computer and not risk damaging the original.

I certainly can’t promise that my other inktober pieces will be this detailed, but I’m glad I got one big splashy piece in. See you all tomorrow for Day 2 of Inktober and Carpe Scream.

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Melkor and Ungoliant Destroy the Trees, by Monica Marier, pen and alcohol marker on paper. For Sale: $90