Joseph Mallozzi's Blog, page 97

February 17, 2023: The Horror Marathon continues with five more bullet movie reviews!

Possessor (2020)

An agent works for a secretive organization that uses brain-implant technology to inhabit other people’s bodies – ultimately driving them to commit assassinations for high-paying clients.

My thoughts: A nifty techno-thriller that goes to some pretty dark places in its exploration of morality, identity, and the psychological ties that bind.

4/5

Der Samurai (2014)

Set in a small German village, a bloody game of cat-and-mouse ensues between a young, straight-shooting police officer and a cross-dressing villain with a large sword and a predilection for beheadings.

My thoughts: I suppose it works as a surreal allegory on repressed homosexuality, but as a compelling and/or ultimately satisfying horror movie? Not so much.

2.5/5

No One Lives (2012)

A gang of ruthless highway killers kidnap a wealthy couple traveling cross country only to shockingly discover that things are not what they seem.

My thoughts: It’s all good cheesy fun, but I’d argue these types of movies work best when you have someone to root for. One would argue that’s the Luke Evans character, but his performance is so stiff, his dialogue so cringingly stilted that it’s hard to get on board.

3/5

Knock at the Cabin (2023)

While vacationing, a girl and her parents are taken hostage by armed strangers who demand that the family make a choice to avert the apocalypse.

My thoughts: A surprisingly staid and unscary entry from Shyamalan, devoid – for better or worse – of his trademark closing twist. Still, Dave Bautista delivers a hell of a performance as the anguished messenger of doom.

3/5

May the Devil Take You (2018)

When her estranged father falls into a mysterious coma, a young woman seeks answers at his old villa, where she and her stepsister uncover dark truths.

My thoughts: It’s a pretty basic deal-with-the-devil story, but the wild mix of witchcraft, voodoo, and demonic possession make for one hell of a chaotic ride.

3.5/5

Today’s Yes/No…

Pizza Toast? Yes/No
A visit to the birthplace of pizza toast: Is the original better than all the others out there? https://t.co/IFVtdnCv9H via @RocketNews24En

— Joseph Mallozzi (@BaronDestructo) February 17, 2023

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February 16, 2023: Unusual Deaths – Mushroom Edition!

I love wild mushrooms and remember going mushroom-picking with my father.  He would find these Shaggy Manes and pan fry them with garlic and butter.  Delicious.  I’ve never had them since because I hear they look similar to a poisonous variety and am not confident enough to tell the difference.  Today, I do most of my wild musrhoom-eating at restaurant where I can rely on the expertise of knowledgeable chefs.  My mother, on the other hand, has always steered clear as she forever remembers, as a young child, attending the funeral of an entire family who died after eating poison mushrooms.

Speaking of eating…

Sakura Saku Saku Frappuccino? Yes/No
Does Starbucks Japan’s new Sakura Frappuccino taste as good as it looks? https://t.co/xybLdMJRIJ via @RocketNews24En

— Joseph Mallozzi (@BaronDestructo) February 16, 2023

Sell!  Sell!

OpenAI's ChatGPT has reportedly predicted that the stock market will crash on March 15, 2023, per BI.

— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) February 16, 2023

And I believe two sidewinders were used to take down 8 year old Tommy Milsap’s kite over Alaska.

Hobby balloon shot down with a $400,000 sidewinder missile. Money well spent!https://t.co/wECGtsRHv1

— Joseph Mallozzi (@BaronDestructo) February 16, 2023

 

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February 15, 2023: Amazing Covers!

A few that caught my eye this week…

Monica Rambeau: Photon #3 – cover art by Kaare Andrews

Wasp #2 – cover art by Tom Reilly

Timeless 2022 #1 – cover art by Patrick Zircher

3Keys #5 – cover art by Fabrizio De Tommaso

The Last Barbarian #1 – cover art by Brian Haberlin

The Last Barbarian #1 – cover art by Brian Haberlin

Batgirls #15 – cover art by Dan Mora

Vampirella vs Red Sonja #4 – cover art by Lucio Parrillo

Nightwalkers #2 – cover art by Joe Bacordo

So, which were YOUR favorites?

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February 14, 2023: My Valentine’s Day Day!

I have no interest in celebrating Valentine’s Day.  My wife, on the other hand, absolutely adores celebrating Valentine’s Day.  And so today, we celebrated Valentine’s Day.

An early start to the day for Akemi and Suji.

Cafe, hot chocolate and pistachio croissant at Beatrice Society Cafe which opens at 8:00 a.m. and is dog-friendly until 10:00 a.m. when the kitchen opens.  A killer croissant.  And one of Suji’s favorite hangouts.

Lunch at Simit & Chai that serves up these heart-shaped bagels for Valentine’s Day – something Akemi always looks forward to.

Then, it’s a walk over to Stackt Market (North America’s Largest Shipping Container Market) to see what they’ve got going on for Valentine’s Day.  As it turns out, at approximately 1:00 p.m. – absolutely nothing.

Photo op!

Being a good husband, I accompanied my wife to Fresh Co. which she was dying to check out since some friends recommended it.

Picked up some hummus and paper plates.  No shopping bags available.

To celebrate the day, I watched the 1981 cheeseball classic My Bloody Valentine…

And sampled Akemi’s chocolate mousse.  Delicious!

My plan was to order Akemi’s favorite chocolate box from La Maison du Chocolat but, unfortunately, they don’t ship to Canada.  And since the in-store pick-up in Paris was a little out of the way, I opted to order from another chocolatier.  But last time I checked (this morning) my order still hadn’t shipped so it’s likely Akemi will have something to look forward to later this week.  Or next.

Finally, we capped off this very special Valentine’s Day by inviting some of our neighbors over for banh mi and whiskey…as is the tradition.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

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February 13, 2023: SG-1 Season 5 Episodic Concept Art and Insights!

Summit

Boy, the costume department had a field day with this one!  This episode was a try-out of sorts, an audition for future system lords.  I drew on a variety of different cultures, creating a colorful rogues gallery.  The hope was that if one popped, we could use him/her in future episodes.  Well, one did: the exquisitely evil Baal played by Cliff Simon.  I remember working on a rewrite of my first draft when we received word that actor J.R. Bourne would not be able to reprise the role of Martouf due to scheduling conflicts.  As a result, my rewrite was a little more extensive.  Rather encountering the Martouf we knew, we encountered his symbiote, Lantesh, who had taken a new host.  It worked but, alas, was nowhere near as powerful as it could have been.  I publicly toyed with the idea of not using a host body and simply having Carter bid a tearful, smooch-filled farewell to the little rubber snake – but it was more an attempt to irritate my fellow writer-producers than a serious pitch.

Last Stand

Back in the old days, SG-1 used to kill Jaffa with gay abandon.  They were little more than cannon fodder for our team, nondescript bad guys who deserved everything that was coming to them.  Except, as time wore on, knocking off the goa’uld’s foot soldiers wasn’t as easy as it used to be because we started to explore an aspect of the Jaffa that had been glossed over in previous years: the fact that they were essentially pawns.  Unlike the ruthless goa’uld who were motivated by a thirst for power, the Jaffa were misguided and knocking them off grew increasingly problematic.  At the end of this episode, we massacre a slew of them with the deadly toxin that targets their symbiotes and, while it may have seemed a smart strategic move at the time, like the food pyramid, asthma cigarettes, and Coca-Cola for kids print ads, it was the sort of thing that eventually went out of style.

Fail Safe

When we first started on the show, Paul and I were a true writing team, often working on scripts together, bouncing dialogue back and forth in our offices. Then, as the demands of production became more pressing, our partnership evolved.  Rather than write together, we started to write separately.  One of us would start a script and send it to the other who would revise what was written, then forge ahead.  When he’d hit a wall, he would send the script back and the other would take over, revising all that had come before, then moving forward.  We eventually settled into this routine but, in time, again as a result of production demands, we became a writing team in name only.  We would write entire drafts separately, then switch off and do polishes on each other’s work. Eventually, we would do our own polishes, yet we maintained our official onscreen partnership.  Why?  Because while I was doing more originals, Paul, in his duties as a producer on the series, did the lion’s share of the uncredited script rewrites on other writers.  And so, for instance, while both our names may appear in the credits, this episode was pretty much Paul’s from start to finish.  One of my favorite exchanges from Fail Safe:

Carter: Now find the wires leading from the timer to the detonator and cut the red one.
O’Neill: Carter, they’re all yellow.
Carter: Say again?
O’Neill: There are five wires, and they’re all yellow!

One of the things that I remember about this episode was how uncomfortable Rick and Chris were in those spacesuits (a recurring on-set theme that ran through both shows)  So much so that they simply refused to wear them any longer than they had to.  Of course, how long was necessary was open to debate. In one sequence in the episode, they discover Sam and Daniel have managed to save themselves by taking refuge inside a ship’s pods.  Rather than releasing them immediately, Jack and Teal’c apparently take the time to repressurize the ship AND THEN remove their spacesuits (which would take them at least a half an hour) before releasing Sam and Daniel.  Nobody else at home seemed to notice, but we sure did.

The Warrior

I was awakened at a little past 7:00 a.m. by my ringing cell phone.  I got out of bed to answer and discovered I’d already missed two calls from my sister in Montreal.    What the hell?  I answered.  She asked me if I had the t.v. on.  I told her I just got up.  She informed me that two planes had flown into the Twin Towers.  Another had hit the Pentagon.  I was stunned.  For a split second, my scifi mind assumed some mass mechanical failure, but the truth, far more insidious and disquieting took hold.  I turned on the t.v. and immediately phoned Paul.  “You watching?”I asked.  “Yeah,”he said.  I’m watching.”

When I got in to work, the Production Offices were quiet.  Someone had turned on the t.v. in the conference room (reserved for screening visual effects) and anyone who wasn’t on filming was in there, silently watching the horrific events unfold.  It was surreal.  Down on set, we were finishing up second unit on this episode while main unit photography had started on Menace.  911 is the first thing that comes to mind when I think back to either of these episodes.

Menace

No concept art

Danielle Nicolet, who guested as Reese in this episode, delivered such a terrific performance that I started trying to think of a way to bring the character back almost immediately after killing her off.  Hey, it happens.  Given the events in New York, most flights were grounded and she unable to fly back to L.A. As a result, she ended up having to stay in town a few extra days.  I remember treating her to dinner where the topic of conversation ranged from the music business to the wonderful time she had as a recurring character on Third Rock From the Sun.  Total sweetheart.

The Sentinel

No concept art

Another misfire in my books, this was one of those episodes I just never got onboard with.  It was also one of those rare instances where we had to use a little trickery to tell our story, in this case showing newly shot footage in the Previously On as a means of introducing (back-selling) some characters who hadn’t appeared in the episode being referenced.  This episode also marked what I believe was the first appearance of the wonderful Christina Cox who would later return to the franchise to play the part of Major Anne Teldy in SGA’s Whispers.

Meridian

No concept art

I know, I know.  Most of you assume my heart is made of stone.  But, believe it or not, the ending of this episode always gets to me, even more so that time has passed.  I wasn’t a fan of the ephemeral cuttlefish but I did think Corin Nemec (Jonas Quinn) gave the best performance of his Stargate run in this heartbreaker of an episode.

Revelations

Our final farewell to Showtime and Daniel Jackson ends with the suggestion that while DJ may be physically gone, he’ll always be there in spirit.  I remember thinking the gust of wind that catches Jack’s attention in the final scene (and his subsequent reaction) was perhaps too subtle but, in retrospect, I guess I was wrong because all of our fans caught it.  Another aspect of this episode I recall is the tiny spiked interrogation device Anubis tells Thor he will implant in his brain.  Every time we watched that scene in dailies, I imagined the following dialogue:

Thor:  Even should you succeed in implanting the device in my ear –

Anubis: Oh, it doesn’t go in through your ear.

Thor: Well, my nose then.  Even if you succeed –

Anubus: No.  Not in through your nose either.

Thor: Well then where – ?  Oh.  Oh $%&@!

I always wanted to hear an Asgard curse a blue streak.  Now that Stargate is done, it stands out as one of my biggest regrets.

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February 12, 2023: Suji Sunday!

Hide ‘n seek

The crowning…

Crowned

Prepping dinner

Outraged…

Yolk ‘n Roll…

 

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Saturday, February 11, 2023: The Saturday Report!

My new agent requested my latest headshot.  Latest headshot?  I think the last professional photo taken of me was for a magazine feature back in 2007.  So I scoured my computer and unearthed the following.  YOU choose!

So, what’ll it be?

Or when it proves capable of writing a genuinely funny half hour comedy. Whichever comes first.
Artificial Intelligence May Hit The Singularity Within 7 Years, Researchers Claim https://t.co/bnZ7UvsGge

— Joseph Mallozzi (@BaronDestructo) February 11, 2023

Today’s Yes/No…

Pastrami donuts? Krispy Kreme Japan has crazy palate-cleanser after all that Valentine’s choco https://t.co/RfZmhdTCHy via @RocketNews24En

— Joseph Mallozzi (@BaronDestructo) February 11, 2023

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February 10, 2023: Final Day in Montreal!

Last day in Montreal!  In preparation for my departure and return home, mom set aside some time last night and this morning to make some Taralli for Akemi.  And by “some”, I mean “lots of”.

Cutting the dough.

Making the rings.

Racking before boiling.

Baking.

And voila!

And voila voila!

And awaiting me on my return home…

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February 9, 2023: Mom’s 89th Birthday Bash!

Last full day in Montreal before I head back to my much-missed Toronto routine.  And Akemi and Suji of course.

Yesterday was mom’s birthday.  She took the day off from cooking, so we hit the West Island’s newest dim sum hot spot – Imperial Palace

When dining out, we all have very different tastes.  Mom, for instance, prefers the shrimp dumplings, the noodles, deep fried calamari and spring rolls.  My sister opts for the fried shrimp, fried pork and shrimp dumplings, and the egg tarts.  I’m more of a turnip cake, barbecue pork bun, and chicken feet kinda guy.

Mom preparing her individually portioned friendship cakes for the gals at work.  Yes, work.  She’s 89 but still goes to work three days a week.

One of the neighbors gifted mom a half dozen eggplants.

And today, it was a birthday lunch with the ladies from work.  And me (not pictured).

By the time dinner rolls around, I am feeling less than ravenous so I usually opt for a couple of eggs and some yogurt, honey, and blueberries for dessert.

This yogurt is a game-changer.  That’s a glorious 11% of full fat deliciousness.  It’s the highest I’ve been able to find.  Do you think I can do better?

Oh, hey, look at what sits on mom’s basement bookshelf.  It’s Latin for the Novice by Joseph Mallozzi, Ph.D!

Today’s Yes/No…

Melon Cream Soda Pizza? Yes/No
Melon cream soda pizza? Shakey’s Japan goes back in time, outside the box with kissaten pizzas https://t.co/NjPQdAnMvJ via @RocketNews24En

— Joseph Mallozzi (@BaronDestructo) February 9, 2023

 

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February 8, 2023: Amazing Covers!

Black Panther #14 – cover art by Alex Ross

Red Goblin #1 – cover art by In-Hyuk Lee

Star Wars: Hidden Empire #3 – cover art by Davie Lopez

Vampirella vs Red Sonja #4 – cover art by Lucio Parrillo

Batman #132 – cover art by Stanley “Artgerm” Lau

The Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing #5 – cover art by Clay Mann

So, which were YOUR favorites?

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