Scarecrow's Blog From the Darkside

**** / **** Watching Doctor Who , I did recall asking myself one time, what would this incredible actor, David Tennant, be as a villain? And that answer is quite vivid and exciting in Jessica Jones , as his antagonistic, charismatic, reptilian Kilgrave is everything opposite what his beloved Tenth Doctor was. I thought his “big introduction” to Jessica in The Sandwich Saved Me was quite marvelous due to his immediate confidence, that really talky swagger, engaging her with no shortage of bravado. Because of Kilgrave’s own “power of persuasion”, he was able to draw her in right after she beat the living hell out of a couple of thugs on a dark street, rescuing an addict from potential serious injury. Jessica hurling one foul cretin over a car hood and tossing another through a building wall is quite an event but afterward, as Kilgrave just embarks on his new “project”, the way he entertains her following him for a bite to eat—getting a good eyeful of her and realizing how adva

I had the afternoon to watch two more episodes of the AMC series of the Simmons’ novel of the Naval ships, Erebus and Terror, First Shot a Winner, Lads & A Mercy definitely present credibly bleak conditions and deteriorating mental states as the icy cold environs of the Arctic, developing (eventually discovered by Goodsir) lead poisoning in the food, dwindling supplies and food, Crozier’s debilitating alcoholism resulting in his self-imposed rehab resulting in Fitzjames’ leadership promotion, and a “carnival” meant by Fitzjames to lift the spirits of the crew before they are to walk on foot from their trapped ships in order to hopefully reach somewhere far more hospitable (and inhabitable) all provide the viewer with insight into a proposed sequence of events that would explain the lost expedition into the Northwest Passage that went terribly wrong. With Dr. Stanley startling the crew by setting fire to himself and the tents of the carnival (killing many inside, leaving an in

Well, the best laid plans…took a hit thanks to fucking Tropical Storm Alberto, delaying my family’s vacation to Florida, so the weekend (well, Saturday and a wee bit of Friday night…) was given to BBC America and its “48 Hours of The X Files”. Today was primarily 3 rd and 4 th season (yesterday and early morning seemed to be the 6 th season, but I just recollect bits and pieces, truth be told, as I was in and out of sleep), and a few episodes in the latter were new to me as I haven’t quite delved into my complete season set of that yet. Particularly enjoyable was the 3 rd season finale, Talitha Cumi (where an alien in the warm presence and face of Roy Thinnes heals a shooter and his victims in an eatery putting himself in danger due to the publicity) and its partner, the 4 th season opener, Herrenvolk (where grim-faced heavy Brian Thompson, alien bounty hunter, pursues Thinnes with orders from William B Davis’ CSM to kill him), as Mulder sees Samantha clones (in the form

**½ / **** I think if I had watched Home back when it first came on television (by the fourth season, in 1996, I was working the night shift and often busy so I was watching the series sporadically), its impact would have been more potent, but I have been through a number of inbred killer horror flicks since then (the Hills Have Eyes / Wrong Turn movies have exploited this to death and reduced it to parody at this point) so my feelings of the episode aren’t as quick to laud its audacity and shock value. At the time, if you hadn’t seen Craven’s film back in 1977, there wasn’t a great deal of content focused on folks that “kept it in the family” and remained off to themselves. Obviously The Texas Chainsaw Massacre also comes to mind; how could this film not, really? But despite the hubbub of the time regarding its gruesome nature (and “warning” to viewers who might watch it), horror fans who have seen their share of Rob Zombie movies followed many other practitioners of gory, vi