Gary Scott Beatty's Pop Culture Review (February 2022)

It has been a strange week over here at Aazurn Publishing Secret Headquarters! I'll tell you about it soon. This week we'll talk about entertainment. +++   Before Midnight Mass and The Haunting of Hill House, Mike Flanagan wrote and directed a "small" horror film every bit as emotionally gut-wrenching as the later, larger, successful projects. It's a study on how to do a lot with very little. Absentia (2012) is way more about the characters and their interactions than it is about the monster. If you like flat, lifeless characters in your horror this movie is not for you. Highly recommended by me, kick back and enjoy. Free with ads on TubiTV. https://tubitv.com/movies/460472/absentia +++   Soldiers Playing "Foot-Ball" by Winslow Homer, 1865. Figured my football friends would enjoy this brawl, an engraving currently on display at the Muskegon Museum of Art. +++   The Hilda adaption recently wrapped up with a movie, Hilda and the Mountain King. I enjoyed how this kid's cartoon was so different, with likable characters trying to think through conflicts and not always succeeding. If you want to try it out, start with the Hilda series. Currently on Netflix. Hilda is a British children's graphic novel series written and illustrated by Luke Pearson and published by Nobrow Press. +++   I don't know why I enjoyed Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings so much. I've seen this kind of story done 1,000 times, nothing new here. And I'm very tired of the "kill for peace" stuff so common in today's adventure movies. BUT, it all just -- worked. I cared about the characters. The sets were beautiful. And the reverence for '70s Kung Fu movies was appreciated -- that's what the Marvel comics were emulating. Of course the fight scenes were superior. What about that cool-as-hell fight on the scaffolding? Recommended, now on DisneyPlus. +++   This was a recent coloring and lettering job I really enjoyed, for Anthony Cacioppo. +++ We're heading into that time of year when many people become giddy with delight and others sink into depression. Remember that you are in charge of your thoughts. It really is instructive to be thankful for even the little things, because isn't that what each of us are, a collection of little things making us that one, unique big thing? We get a "start over" every new year. Take it. In glorious service to our Aazurn overlords, Gary Scott Beatty StrangeHorror.com

Copyright © 2022 Aazurn Publishing, All rights reserved.  If you're new here and forgot why you subscribed, I'm Gary Scott Beatty, author and/or illustrator of several fine genre fantasy books, including Wounds, Jazz: Midnight, Worlds, and, Bleeding Cool claims, one of the best indie comics of 2014, Number One. Add gary@indiecomicsmagazine.com to your address book and these won't be branded as sp7m-robot generated evil. If you enjoy these ramblings, feel free to send friends to http://strangehorror.com so they can become indoctrinated into the temple of Aazurn.  Our mailing address is:  Aazurn Publishing 1509 Princeton Rd. Muskegon, MI  49441 Add us to your address book