Film Review: The Omicron Killer

Josh Mitchell, of PUB.LIE.SIZE, has informed us that  donations are being accepted for a Kickstarter campaign to support a new horror film about CoViD and serial killers.

November 7th, 2020, during the height of the Corona virus pandemic, a serial killer known as the Covid Killer, remains at large. This killer has eluded law enforcement for months, but he's about to walk into a trap.

 

However, a copycat killer will continue killing, and become known as the Omicron Killer.

Co-starring Lynn Lowry & Rob Emmer from (IMPRACTICAL) JOKERS, "[t]his project will only be funded if it reaches its goal by Friday, July 29 2022 10:53 AM EDT," according to their Kickstarter page (follow hyperlink above). With enough funding, the film's producers intend to cast Elvira, Danny Trejo,Tara Reid, Kristy Swanson, Bai Ling, Robert Englund, Bruce Campbell, Kane Hodder, Tom Savini, Heather Langenkamp,  Alex Vincent, and Christine Elise. In addition, A-list talent is being cast by Ross Clancy Casting.

Post by William Mortensen Vaughan

Film Review: Hemorrhage

Josh Mitchell as Chris Chaffe in Hemorrhage

In 2015, when U.S. Presidential Candidate Donald Trump has stirred controversy about illegal immigration especially from Mexico, a short, fictitious film on the topic is released.   Written, directed by, and starring Josh Mitchell of Wicked Pissa Publicity as a "hockey player [who] finds himself face-to-face with a Mexican gang," his "new action film 'Hemorrhage,'" is viewable at:

www.vimeo.com/picknroll/hemorrhage
 
Josh Mitchell plays Chris Chaffe, a "brawling hockey player [who] suffers his fourth concussion and is forced to retire [and who] connects with a shady old high school friend and starts flipping houses but quickly finds himself face-to-face with a dangerous Mexican gang."

"When they rough up his wife and kidnap his son - the gloves come off and he takes matters into his own hands.

"This is Taken meets 'Sons of Anarchy.'"

I find this film professionally produced and engrossing, and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in either side of the current illegal immigration controversy.

By the way, I glimpsed an L.A. Kings logo in the footage, so I assume it was filmed at their rink.



Q Productions, in association with Ocean Scott Media, presents
this Wickid Pissa Film, co-starring Aida King as the protagonist's wife, Ana.

Additional credits include:

Director of Photography:  Domenico Grasso

Casting Associate:  Norma Marcus [who also plays Chastity Jades]

Executive Producer:  Jay King

Film Editor:  Chris Kaiser

For more information about this film, visit:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4687574

https://www.facebook.com/hemorrhagefilm

Review by William Mortensen Vaughan and Josh Mitchell

Film Review: The Convicted

Tommy Otis, The Convicted

Josh Mitchell of Wicked Pissa Publicity directed "The Convicted," and describes this Wickid Pissa film/Breezeway Production, written by Alexander Michael Helisek, as "One man's fall from grace and power."  Bottom Line Up Front, it's an extremely vulgar film not recommended for General Audiences; it's rated "Mature" on Vimeo. 
 
The film includes original music:

"Soy un monstro" [sic, "I'm a Monster"*] by Max Capote

"Tormento" ["Torment"] by Mon Laferte

"Broken Reality" by Kevin MacLeod 

Anjanette Miller is the Executive Producer.

Alex Helisek is credited as a Producer as well as the Writer.

Other credits include:

John Nodorft, Director of Photography
Chris Kaiser, Sound and Editing
Josh Maas, Gaffer,
Adrien Delstanche, Assistant Camera Nicole Waterman, Second Assistant Camera Jimmy Freixa, First Assistant Director
Productions Assistants, Mike McCarthy and John Plata
On Set Photography, Carrie Cavalier Photography
Props, Mike Tristano and Company
Costumes, Guidos Italian's Mens Fashion [sic], Tampa, Florida
Special thanks [location], Miceli's

The cast includes:

Tommy Otis, as Don Figaro   (See our interview)
John Curley, as Marty "Fingaz" Fingers (See our interview) Charlie Pecoraro, as Joey Taps
Dan Sutter, as Bartender Giseuppe/Guiseppe**, also known as "G"
Maia Ortiz, as Christina
Jessica Reinhardt, as Rochelle
Aida King, as Saphire
Jessica Lindsey Gilbert (who previously granted us an interview), as Natalia
Lauran de Winter (whom we previously featured in a press release), as Brett

Rey Engelhard, Josh Mitchell & Alex Helisek

The introductory, guitar music is the Spanish song, "Soy un monstro," which is heard during the opening credits, while Don Figaro, played by Tommy Otis,  models what is presumably an expensive, Italian suit, as he tucks a pistol tucked into the front of the pants, and  brandishes first a black baseball bat, then a Tommy gun (Thompson sub-machine gun, invented by John T. Thompson in 1918).  As best I can understand him, a man off screen sings the following words:

Estoy mal.  [I am wrong/not well.]

Hoy perdí.  [Today I lost.]

Hoy, yo, rey...  [Today, I, king...]

Me equivoqué.  [I made a mistake.]

Yo quise sorprenderte, [I wanted to surprise you,]

y te aterrorizé!  [and I terrorized you!]

Soy un monstruo.  [I am a monster.]

Soy un monstruo que quiso sorprenderte, [I am a monster that wanted to surprise you,]

y te aterrorizó!  [and terrorized you!]


No cuidé tu espacio.  [I didn't care for your space.]

No respeté... [I didn't respect...]

Te acorralé!  [I corraled you!]

Then the scene opens on the front of Miceli's Pizzeria (the one on Cahuenga Boulevard, near Universal City) where Marty Fingers and Joey Taps, played by John Curley and Charlie Pecoraro, respectively, are smoking and discussing business.  Mysteriously, Marty tells Joey not to worry about the boss anymore, and invites him inside for drinks.

Inside, a man who resembles Jonathan Goldsmith (perhaps Paul Michael Nieman)of Dos Equis fame frisks them before they go to the bar.  (He doesn't always frisk people, but when he does, he wears a suit.)  Christina, played by Maia Ortiz, accompanied by Rey Engelhard on the piano, begins singing Mon Laferte's "Tormento":

Mi amor fue sincero.  [My love was sincere.]

Te quise de verdad.  [I truly loved you.]

A pesar de tu silencio, te quise más...  [In spite of your silence, I loved you more...]

Un beso en el Metro...  [A kiss on the subway...]

Meanwhile, at the bar, G., played by Dan Sutter, shares a dirty joke, and serves them double shots of whiskey, since Marty tells him they're going "to the back."

Christina continues singing:

Nadie más te amará  [No one else will love you]

Como te pude amar...  [As I could love you...]

Marty and Joey taste their whiskey, then Marty heads to "the back," leaving Joey at the bar, where Christina joins him, after finishing her song.  No longer the loving Latin lover, Christina verbally assaults Joey, apparently because she continues to receive bills he promised to pay, and her home is about to be repossessed.

Joey tells her they'll discuss it later, but Christina tells him not to bother, and leaves.  

Aida King & Tommy Otis

Marty comments on Christina as he returns to inform Joey that "they" are not ready for them, so they take seats at a table.

Christina starts singing in Spanish again, as if to a lover she wants to be alone with.

Finally, Saphire***, played by Aida King, informs Marty and Joey that "he" is ready for them "in the back," so they join Don Figaro, played by Tommy Otis, at his table, where he sits, accosting someone via cellular telephone, with a pistol on the table in front of him.  

Don Figaro curtails his conversation with insults and threats, and welcomes Marty and Joey to his table.

Marty starts an intellectual discussion about happiness and fear, to which Don Figaro responds with his own treatise on power and trust, specifically implying that he doesn't trust Marty.

Apparently, Don Figaro is right not to trust Marty, because men outside are listening to this conversation as Don Figaro admits he killed a certain person.  

Dan Sutter & Josh Mitchell

This film begs the following questions:
Will Joey ever regain Christina's trust?

Will G. keep telling dirty jokes?

Are the people listening to Don Figaro, from outside, law enforcement officers?

Will they arrest Don Figaro?

Is Don Figaro named after the person referred to in the famous opera song?

For the answers to these questions, see The Convicted!

Film review by William Mortensen Vaughan
________________________

Josh Mitchell & Alexander Helisek

*The word heard in the song is monstruo, which means "monster," in Spanish
**Dan Sutter is credited as Guiseppe on IMDb, and as Giseuppe in the credits that roll at the end of the film.  His character's name should probably be "Giuseppe," which means "Joseph" in Italian.
***The correct spelling for the gem is "sapphire."

Film Review: Cinderella (2015)

This review is based on the Disney film released in 2015, written by Chris Weitz, directed by Kenneth Branagh, and starring Lily James in the title role.  I found myself moved throughout the film because the storyline and acting were so superb!  It also featured magnificent architecture and wardrobes (and music by Patrick Doyle) - a feast for the eyes and ears!

As with other versions of Cinderella's story, such as the one I reviewed in April, 2015, the writer (Chris Weitz, in this case) took liberties with the "original" fairytale.  

I use the word "original" loosely, because Cinderella's story is a tale which was passed by word-of-mouth perhaps centuries before Charles Perrault published "The Little Glass Slipper" in 1697.  Even with that written version available, the brothers, Jacob Ludwig and Wilhelm Carl Grimm, published a radically different version in 1812, which excluded Perrault's fairy godmother, as well as the glass slippers; their slippers were of silk and silver, and of gold. 

Perrault's version begins with the marriage of "a gentleman" to "the proudest and most haughty woman that was ever seen," who has two daughters from a previous marriage.  Perrault only mentions one of these stepdaughters by name, whose name, Charlotte, is revealed when Cinderella asks her to lend her a yellow dress.  The gentleman, who had but one daughter (Cinderella), also by a previous marriage, does not die in this fairytale, but "his wife governed him entirely."

Cinderella's father does not die in the Grimm version, either.  In fact, when asked if another maiden were in his home, that might try on the slipper, he goes so far as to say, “only my dead wife left behind her a little stunted Cinderella; it is impossible that she can be the bride.” 

The Grimm version begins with Cinderella's mother telling her, as she, the mother, lay dying, “Dear child, be good and pious, and God will always take care of you, and I will look down upon you from heaven, and will be with you."

Later, in the Grimm version, the father goes to a fair, but asks his daughter and stepdaughters what they want him to bring them from the fair.  The stepdaughters ask him for expensive items such as would occur to spoiled stepdaughters.

Cinderella, however, says, “The first twig, father, that strikes against your hat on the way home; that is what I should like you to bring me.”  

In this, the 2015 version, Chris Weitz gives Cinderella a name, Ella, and a childhood before her mother's death; Eloise Webb plays the young Ella, and her mother tells her as she lies dying, to keep courage and be kind.

Later, Ella's father, played by Ben Chaplin, informs Ella that an old acquaintance, Sir Tremain, has left a widow, and Ella encourages him to marry her.

Sir Tremain's widow, played by Cate Blanchett, moves into Ella's home with her two stepdaughters, Drisella and Anastasia, played by Sophie McShera and Holliday Grainger, respectively.  There is no Charlotte in this version.

Unlike Cinderella's fathers in the Perrault and Grimm versions of the fairytale, Ella's father goes away for a few months.  As in the Grimm version, however, he asks the girls what they want him to bring them, and the stepdaughters ask for expensive frivolities, but Ella, similar to the Grimm version, asks for the first branch he happens to strike his shoulder as he rides away (on his horse-drawn wagon), so that it will remind him of her on the rest of the journey, and so he'll return to her with it; his return is what she wants most.

Unfortunately, Ella's father doesn't return.  Instead, a priest, played by an actor uncredited on IMDb, as of June 30, 2015 - a priest arrives to inform Ella that her father became ill and passed away on his journey.

In the Grimm version, Cinderella attends the king's ball three nights in a row, as she also does in the version included in the film Into the Woods.  In Perrault's version, Cinderella only attends balls two nights in a row.  In this 2015 version, Ella attends the ball but one night, after her Fairy Godmother, played by Helena Bonham Carter, provides her with a carriage, a dress, and a pair of glass slippers.

To add to the drama and intrigue, Chris Weitz has the King promise his son in marriage to Princess Chelina (played by Jana Perez) of Zaragosa, not to be confused with Zaragoza, Spain, although she has what sounds to me like a Hispanic accent, and looks suspiciously like a Spanish flamenco dancer.  Her name, Chelina, is particularly odd, since everyone in the film pronounces it as if it were spelled with an "sh," which sound does not occur in Spanish.  The "Ch" would be pronounced like the "ch" in English, if it were a Spanish name.  Perhaps the cast and crew of this film considered the name to be French, in which the "ch" is pronounced like the "sh" in English, as in chic. 

To add further intrigue, the wicked stepmother overhears the King admit to his Grand Duke, played by Stellan Skarsgård, that he promised his son in marriage to Princess Chelina.  Sir Tremain's widow uses this admission to coerce the Grand Duke into promising her a title and advantageous marriages for her daughters.  Unfortunately for her and her daughters, the Prince, also known as "Kit," played by Richard Madden, uncovers Lady Tremain's treachery, when he hears Ella singing in the garret, where her stepmother confined her after discovering the glass slipper, which Ella hid there.  Neither Lady Tremain nor the Grand Duke are ever seen in Ella's kingdom again, even though she pardons her stepmother.

Overall, this version of Cinderella seems more fleshed out than most, if not all, other versions, and is, in my opinion, the best version I've ever encountered, whether in film or writing.  However, there are certain things about it which I find disturbing, which I would change.

First of all, even though Lily James is an excellent actress and singer, I would have natural blondes play the roles of young and grown-up Ella - perhaps even Cate Blanchett would have been a better choice for the title role.  Lily's brown eyes and dark "uni-brow" seem a little odd. 

Secondly, Ella befriends mice, which return the favor by becoming her footmen and later opening a garrett window so that the Prince can hear her singing.  I have often found it odd how attracted some writers are to mice.  Mice are treated sympathetically in The Muppet Christmas Carol, and in at least one other version of A Christmas Carol.  Then there are the mice and rats in Ratatouille, which I admit I find amusing.  But Perrault apparently had a similar regard to mine for mice and rats, because Cinderella had a rat trap as well as a mousetrap, from which traps she obtained her horses and driver, in his version of the events.  In Chris Weitz' version, the Fairy Godmother transforms a goose into the driver, and Ella's rodent friends into horses to draw the carriage; lizards become footmen in both versions.  Again, the Grimm brothers left the Fairy Godmother out of their version.  A white bird is Cinderella's benefactor in the Grimm version, and merely throws down dresses and pairs of shoes for her; the Grimm brothers make no mention of a carriage, nor of transforming mice, rats, geese, lizards, or pumpkins into anything.

As if having Ella befriend mice weren't enough evidence of a liberal, Cass Sunstein-like stance toward animals in this version of Cinderella, she persuades the Prince to stop hunting deer.  Apparently, everyone in her kingdom is a vegetarian, which is, perhaps, why the feast Perrault mentions in his version is disappointingly absent from this film version.  This reminds me of how meat-eating people are portrayed as demonic in Darren Aronofsky's 2014 version of Noah.  Smokers are similarly vilified in Kevin Costner's Waterworld.

In my version of Cinderella, she and everyone else in her kingdom would be hunters and carnivores, and there would be grand feasts - for the belly, as well as for the eyes and ears!

Review by William Mortensen Vaughan

Play Review: Bad Jews

Raviv Ullman, Molly Ephraim, Ari Brand & Lili Fuller in Bad Jews

Joshua Harmon wrote Bad Jews, which, according to GeffenPlayhouse.com, contains mature themes and strong language.  Matt Shakman is directing it at the Geffen Playhouse through July 26, 2015.  The cast consists of four actors:  Ari Brand, as big brother Liam; Raviv Ullman, as little brother Jonah; Molly Ephraim, as cousin Daphna; and Lili Fuller, as Liam's fiancée, Melody.  

I enjoyed the privilege of seeing this play, thanks to Gary Sinise, who provides excellent dinners with some of the Geffen's plays, on certain nights, to U.S. Military personnel and Veterans.  As a military retiree and member of Hollywood Post 43, I make it a point to attend these dinners and plays every chance
I get.  

Of all the plays I've seen, I consider this one to be the most hilarious.  I can relate to Liam not wanting to waste a moment of time with his obnoxious, religiously fanatical cousin Daphna - especially when he could spend each of those moments with his fiancée, Melody, instead.  I can relate to Daphna thinking Melody is a stupid, tattooed bimbo.  I can relate to Melody just wanting to get to know (and get along with) her fiancé's family, and deciding to attend college, and study something she loves, but against a career in entertainment after enduring a small portion of the abuse heaped on would-be entertainers by the egomaniacs in the industry.  I can relate to Jonah, who loves his brother and his cousin, and is willing to tolerate his brother's gentile fiancée, and especially doesn't want to get sucked into a war between any of these people.

I was particularly impressed by Ari and Molly's dialogues/diatribes.  Very intense, hilarious emotion!  I can't help but wonder how much was scripted, and how much ad lib/improvised.  I was also very impressed by Lili's singing of George Gershwin's "Summertime," which, based on the dialogue, was supposed to be bad, but which I thought was excellent.

This play beg various questions, including:

Will Liam find a place to sleep out of earshot from Daphna?

Will Liam let Daphna have the heirloom she covets, but which he possesses and intends to give to Melody in lieu of an engagement ring?

Will Jonah take sides with Ari or Daphna?

Can people in the bathroom hear what people are saying in the kitchen?

Will Melody accept Liam's proposal?

Will Liam place the heirloom on Melody's neck?

Would Daphna physically assault Melody if she saw the Jewish heirloom on her gentile neck?

Will Melody decide Jews are too bad to marry, or even be friends with?

Why does Daphna cling to Judaism more so than perhaps any of her relatives, yet not believe in ninety percent of its sexist, antiquated teachings?

Why is there a bandage on Jonah's forearm?

Are tattoos a dumb idea?

For answers to these and other questions, see the play yourself!

Play review by William Mortensen Vaughan

T.V. Series Review: The Mentalist

The D.V.D. [Digital Video Disc] version of the Seventh (and, unfortunately, final) Season of "The Mentalist" became available in late April, 2014.  The official release date was April 28, but I received my copy of the pre-ordered set several days before that.  A fan of "The Mentalist," I already owned D.V.D. copies of all of the previous seasons, and I have watched every episode in the series - some episodes repeatedly.  I'm such a fan, that I have started creating four quizzes of varying difficulty, for each episode, with which our readers can test their knowledge and/or jog their nostalgic memories of the series, at my blog.  [UPDATE:  I am copying them to Quibblo; search for "mentalist" via Quibblo's search engine to find my quizzes, and those of others, on this topic.  The Quibblo versions are better because they grade your answers, so you don't need to grade them yourself, based on the answers I provide in separate blog posts.]  More on that later...

In case our readers wonder why I am obsessed with the episode enough to create so much material based on "The Mentalist," the main reason I offer is my envy of the Mentalist, played by Simon Baker.  

I can relate to the Mentalist, a.k.a. Patrick Jane in many ways.  As a retired United States Army Staff Sergeant, I can relate to the office politics the Mentalist is constantly subjected to, such as mandatory meetings, and being obliged to "walk on eggshells" around certain people, or to handle them "with kid gloves" because they are so important.  For example, one supervisor chides Mr. Jane's boss, Agent Lisbon, played by Robin Tunney, once, for arresting a man who was such a close friend the Governor (of the State of California) as to possess his home phone number.  Mr. Jane and his boss are continually threatened by powerful people with connections above their pay grades. 

Being subjected to office politics is not what I envy about the Mentalist.  What I envy about him is his ability to outmaneuver the "big dogs" who want to eat him, and "have it his way," as if he lived at Burger King.  For example, Agent Fischer, played by Emily Swallow, once explains to him that he can't have a couch at the F.B.I. headquarters where he works because rating a couch requires a minimum pay grade, and he, as a mere consultant, isn't even on the pay scale; long story short, his favorite, old, leather couch (or one very similar to it) supports the full length of his body, in his office at F.B.I. headquarters, by the end of the episode.

Then there are all the things he gets away with saying and doing to powerful people.  One time, he flips a prominent businessman in the head for throwing a party for business associates while he should be grieving the death of his spouse.  At least twice, he accuses other businessmen of committing statutory rape, based on little more than hunches.  His hunches are usually so accurate that his boss eventually refers to them as "Jane hunch[es]," as she reminds her supervisor that he "keep[s] Jane around for a reason."

The Mentalist's proficiency at his job is something else I envy.  His job is to close murder cases, and, to quote one of his boss' supervisors, he "close[s] cases like a fiend!"  It's enough to make him seem indispensable to his boss and supervisors, influencing to "make certain allowances" for him, and offer him "a certain amount of leeway."  Most of the time I served in the Army, my superiors did not regard me as indispensable; on the contrary, they considered me, at best, so dispensable that I would in several situations have been the very person they asked to unmask to test the air for chemical or biological agents, instead of people junior to me in rank, but regarded as more indispensable for other reasons, such as their particular job skills.  A few commissioned Officers regarded me as such a detriment that they actually tried to have me discharged without retirement or a pension.  (Fortunately, I did retire in spite of their efforts, so there's a certain part of my anatomy they are more than welcome to kiss any time they want!)  However, during rare, brief periods of my military career, I enjoyed special privileges because of my special skills as a Spanish linguist.  An officer might have preferred a driver who was easier on the eyes, so to speak, but her looks were of little help when, for example, las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia were saying things it behooved them to understand.  Those were the times when I felt like the Mentalist, the guy who sleeps on the job so much that he literally has a couch to sleep on at work, who eats and drinks everything, and who almost always tends to avoid performing the most dangerous, tedious, or menial tasks, such as canvasing the neighborhood, serving "hot warrants," sitting through boring meetings or sifting through the garbage.

Something else I like about the Mentalist in particular, and the series in general, is the lightheartedness, in spite of the harsh realities homicide detectives constantly encounter and counter.  The Mentalist often gives people gifts, from small works of origami, to jewelry costing five or more figures, but always with a personal touch and a sense of humor.  He also makes an excellent golf companion and a formidable card player, as well as an entertaining magician, crime solver, and fund raiser.  Whatever he does, he tends to do it with a contagious smile, so it came as no surprise to discover that Simon Baker's nickname is "Smiley."

Perhaps this was creator Bruno Heller's inspiration for the calling card of the Mentalist's arch antagonist, Red John:  a smiley face, drawn in red, often with the blood of his victims.

Not everything about the Mentalist is ideal.  Mistakes were made.  For example, the script supervisor and footage editors apparently missed a seen where Agent Cho, played by Tim Kang, handed someone a tool, only to appear using the tool in the next instant.  Every once in a while, Simon Baker and Owain Yeoman, who plays Agent Rigsby, slip into their native accents; they are literally from Tasmania and Oxford, respectively, even though their characters are Americans.  Jane was raised in a carnival that toured the Midwestern United States; Rigsby was the son of a motorcycle gangster from California.  It would have made more sense to either hire American actors to play these roles, or have the characters come from Australia and England.  Patrick Jane drinks tea so incessantly that he must be a Brit!  Why not just make his character British?

Another mistake, as far as I'm concerned, which happens in at least three episodes, is that the Mentalist tricks people into shooting firearms with blanks when they think their guns are loaded with ball rounds (not blanks).  In my opinion, his is too risky to be considered professional enough for a law enforcement agency to do, because any self-respecting criminal who knows how to handle a firearm would probably check their ammunition before using it to commit a crime.  Granted, a similar situation in another episode resulted in the killing of a police officer.  The Mentalist slipped peanuts into a suspect's pistol; later, when the suspect escorted him outside to get past the police who surrounded the place, the Mentalist told them to merely arrest the man, because he'd put peanuts in his pistol.  Sure enough, the criminal attempted to fire the pistol, and it was jammed, but, when a police officer approached to cuff him, he pulled out his back-up weapon and shot the officer dead.  Oops!

Extras which were included in the D.V.D. copies of the first six seasons were discarded in the final season.  Earlier editions were translated into audible Portuguese and about a dozen foreign subtitles.  The final season may be heard only in English, with subtitles in only three languages:  English, Spanish, and French.  I've often wondered why anyone bothered to translate the earlier seasons into Portuguese instead of Spanish, and if there isn't a connection to this peculiarity and Agent Lisbon being named after the capital of Portugal.

But the final disc of the final season does include a special feature, titled "Patrick Jane:  An Uncommon Man," chronicling his "journey of redemption, from revenge to romance."  The Mentalist spends approximately the first five and a half seasons hunting Red John, after Red John butchered his wife and child, in response to Jane's taunting him via a televised interview which included a broadcast of a demonstration of Jane's alleged psychic powers, with which Jane had made a lucrative living while claiming they were genuine.  Jane apparently blames himself for the massacre of his family, and stops claiming to have any psychic powers.  Furthermore, he insists that no one has any psychic powers, and that there are no such things as psychic powers.  He does, however, continue to use the sometimes deceptive tricks psychics use, as well as their authentic skills, to get what he wants, and to accomplish his missions.

Sometime during Season Six, the Mentalist becomes significantly less concerned with Red John, and a lot more concerned with Agent Lisbon, so much so that, at the end of the Season finale, he confesses his love for her, to her.

Coincidental to the Mentalist's loss of interest in Red John, he transitions from his job at a by then defunct C.B.I. headquarters in Sacramento, California, to a position at an F.B.I. headquarters in, for some strange reason, Austin, Texas.  This divides the entire series into two distinct portions, which I have come to think of as the California chronicles and the Texas tales.  For all intents and purposes, they are essentially two different series, but with some of the same characters, especially the Mentalist and his boss, Agent Lisbon, who becomes his partner both professionally and romantically in Season Seven.

This series begs the questions:  


Will the Mentalist ever catch Red John?

If and when the Mentalist does catch Red John, will he kill him, incarcerate him, or merely let him go?

Will the Mentalist and Agent Lisbon get married and live happily ever after?

I hope the answer to that last question is answered in a future, spin-off series.


Back to the quizzes I mentioned in the first paragraph of this review...  So far, I have only created and published nine such quizzes - four each for each of the first two episodes of Season One, plus an extra Witness Level Quiz for the Pilot episode.  The answers to the multiple-choice questions are published in separate posts, on the same blog.

I am creating four quizzes for each episode, of four levels of difficulty; for each episode, I intend to create a Witness Level Quiz, an Agent Level Test, a Mentalist Level Exam, and an Omniscient Level Inquisition, with eleven, twenty-one, thirty-one, and forty-one questions, respectively.  Not only are there ten more questions for each level of difficulty above the Witness Level, the questions themselves tend to be more difficult, or at least focused from a different point of view.

I try to derive the Witness level questions by watching the episode with the volume muted.  

The Agent and Mentalist Level questions are mostly derived from conversations the Agents and/or the Mentalist have during the episode.  The Agent Level Test will tend to have more questions based on things the C.B.I. or F.B.I. (California and Federal Bureaus of Investigation) Agents say or hear, whereas the Mentalist Level Exam will contain more questions based on what the Mentalist says or hears.  

The Omniscient Level Inquisitions are comparable to the "impossible" "nightmare" levels in video games.  Their questions are derived from sources other than the episodes themselves, such as the Internet.  Occasionally, there may be questions in the Inquisitions which aren't even available - at least not readily, on the Internet.  These are often behind-the-scenes questions, such as which actor played which role, and what else have they appeared in.  Some of the Inquisition questions may involve more in depth studies into items seen or foreign or peculiar words uttered during the episode.  For examples, what type of fish is shown at the beginning of a certain scene, or what does sacramento mean in which languages?

Each quiz above the Witness level provides the opportunity to "test out" at a lower level than that indicated by the level of the test.  To score at a certain level, one must score the percentage which corresponds to that level:

Seventy percent to achieve the status of a Witness
Eighty percent to achieve the status of an Agent
Ninety percent to achieve the status of a Mentalist
One hundred percent to achieve the status of the Omniscient.

Any score below seventy percent on any of the quizzes constitutes a failure.

Each quiz has a bonus question.  Missing the bonus questions does not lower the overall percentage scored, because the percentages are based on round numbers of questions.  For examples, seven of ten questions, or seventy percent, for a Witness Level Quiz, or forty of forty questions for the Omniscient Level Inquisition...  However, answering the bonus question correctly boosts the percentage, because it counts as a correct answer against the number of non-bonus questions on the quiz.  For example, if someone were to answer only six non-bonus questions correctly on a Witness Level Quiz, this would constitute a failure; however, if they answered the bonus question correctly, they would pass with seven correct answers, or seventy percent.

I hope our readers will enjoy watching and re-watching episodes of "The Mentalist" for decades to come, finding the answers to these and many more questions!

Review by William Mortensen Vaughan

Book Reviews: Oliver and Jumpy, Stories 13 - 15

Apparently, there are thirty-nine stories, by Werner Stejskal, about Oliver, the cat; and Jumpy, the kangaroo, available in thirteen "books" - three stories per "book."  I use the term "book" loosely, because these "books" are available as ebooks from Amazon.com  They are also available from BarnesandNoble.com, Google Play, iBooks, and Kobo.

An introduction to readers who, like me, missed all of the previous stories, indicates that Oliver is "the most famous cat in the country."  This begs the question, "What country?"  And, if he's so famous, why haven't I heard of him before?  Oliver must not be as famous as my favorite fictional cat, Garfield!
 
I read Stories Thirteen, Fourteen, and Fifteen, which are illustrated by Maycee Ann Reyes, and edited by Julia Gutheil, M. Ed. [Master of Education].  The stories and illustrations seem appropriate for toddlers, and actually have plots and morals, similar to those in Aesop's Fables.  The weak use of the English language is what I like the least about these stories.

Story Thirteen is titled "Baby Sitting."   The writing struck me as weak in the first paragraph:  "The last time had been...  kids grow up so quickly and become a lot more active!"  "Was" is a simpler, stronger word for "had been," and the last sentence begs the questions, "How quickly?" and "More active than what?"

The second paragraph begins with, "'Knock, knock!'  Bears are very good climbers..." as if the author were about to tell a knock-knock joke, but suddenly decided to discuss bears' ability to climb instead.

"Had been" is used repeatedly where was or were would be more appropriate.  

Then the story ends with, "Bearlybye!"

Story Fourteen is titled "Good Deed Day."  It takes place "today," which begs the question, of course, which day that was.  
The phrase "would need help urgently" begs the question "if what were to happen?"  The phrases "came visiting," "had lost," and "is now" are other examples of weak, impractical wording.

This story ends with "Piggybye!"

Story Fifteen is titled "Magic."  It takes place in "Sillandia, the silly country," a silly place, indeed. 

Weak, impractical phrases in these story include "something alive...watching,"  "turning [a] head in disgust,"  "'roo power," (presumably "kangaroo power), "door was shaking" "grandest hall ever seen," and "tell the truth by me" instead of "to me,"  "tested us the day's flying lesson," and "like if" instead of "as if."  Mr. Stejskal uses the singular pronoun "it" to refer to the plural noun, "wands." 

The story ends with, "Wandybye!"

More information about Oliver and Jumpy is available on their official website:
 
www.bedtimestory4you.com

Review by William Mortensen Vaughan

Film Review: Live-In Fear

Brandon Scullion wrote, directed, and edited Live-In Fear.  It premiered at the United Film Festival September 5, 2014.

Live-in Fear is an Iodine Sky Production, in association with MOnsterworks66.  Maria Olsen, the lady who puts the "MO" in MOnsterworks66, and granted us an interview in March, 2014, tells us that Live-in Fear, has not only been "screened around the world at various horror film festivals," but "won Best Grindhouse Feature at the 2014 Los Angeles RIP Horror Film Festival," and that Arielle Brachfeld, who plays Mallory, "won Best Actress for her role... at the same festival"!

Sarah Greyson, Chris Dorman, and David Lautman also co-star in this film, as Becca, Eric, and Seth, respectively.  

Our readers may have seen Sarah Greyson in at least seventeen episodes of "The Challenge"," and they may remember her from "Road Rules" in the 'Nineties.  

Chris Dorman (above) played the nefarious John May in a documentary about the infamous Valentine's Day Massacre.

David Lautman played Vampire Elvis in an episode of "C.S.I." titled "Blood Moon."

Arielle Brachfield appeared in an episode of Ron Perlman's "1000 Ways to Die" titled "Death Gets Busy," and played Giselle in seven episodes of "Hustle."

Maria Olsen plays Seth's mother.

Supporting actors include Geoffrey Gould, Myles Cranford, Charlene Geisler, and Nancy Wolfe.

Like Arielle Brachfield, Geoffrey Gould appeared in "Hustle."  He also played at least four roles in "My Name Is Earl."  

Myles Cranford has appeared in numerous productions, including "Law & Order:  LA."  

Charlene Geisler played young Rose in an episode of "N.C.I.S." titled "Nine Lives." 

Nancy Wolfe played Susan Atkins in the original, historic version of Helter Skelter (1976), based on the Charles Manson murders.

Executive Producers include Joshua Bales, Dakota Bales, Troy Butcher, Alan Gilbreath, Betty Zuardo, and Russell Zuardo.

Live-In Fear features original music by Brandon Scullion and Melinda Echeverria, production design by Danielle D'Ambra, make-up and special effects by Emily Fiora Parks, and cinematography by Matthew Espenshade.

More information is available at:


The official website:


liveinfearfilm.com

The IMDB page:

www.imdb.com/title/tt2290473 

The Facebook:

www.facebook.com/liveinfearfilm

 

The official trailer: 

http://youtu.be/MlTLuVkLYGw

 

When Maria Olsen told us that Live-In Fear is about "an ancient being" who "terrorizes four friends" in "snowy Utah mountains," I, born in Brigham City and raised in Ogden, found my interest piqued.
 

Live-In Fear begs the following questions:

Will Seth, Becca, Eric, and/or Mallory enjoy any of their vacation in Utah?

What's in Seth's luggage?

Did he transport his mother's body and head in separate pieces of
luggage?

How did Seth's mother die?

Why did Seth tell his friend Eric, but not his girl friend Becca,
about his mother's death?

Why do Seth and his mother have dark rings under their eyes?

Is the Aspens Rental Agency a real place in Utah?

Why does Becca keep vomiting?

Is Becca pregnant?

If Becca is pregnant, who's the father?

Are Seth and Becca going to live happily ever after?

Are Eric and Mallory going to live happily ever after?

Are Mallory and Seth going to dump Eric and Becca, respectively, and live happily ever after with each other?

Why does Eric start vomiting?

Did someone poison Eric?

What's in Eric's pocket?

Is Eric a hopeless, abusive alcoholic?

Does Mallory cut herself, or does Eric cut her?
 
Why does the black man in the blue, Rob Roy tartan jacket keep

telling Seth and his friends that they shouldn't be where they are?

Why does he always have either an ax or a gun in his hands?

Why is there a garden of crucifixes near the vacation condos that
Seth doesn't remember, even though he's been there before?

Why do the Paps, the condo managers, wear blue uniforms with rubber gloves as if they work for a body removal service instead of as vacation condo managers?

Why does it say "Paradise" on the Paps' uniforms if they are the
managers of the Aspens Rental Agency?

Why are the Paps such religious fanatics?

What do the Paps have against atheists?

Why does Mrs. Paps tell the young vacationers things could have gone more easily for them, after Mallory admits she's an atheist?

Why is Mrs. Paps so fond of Boris Karlov?

Why does Seth get so upset when he sees a woman at the beginning of one of the video tapes in his condo, that he throws all the tapes in a dumpster without watching them?

What or who does Seth bury in the woods near his condo?

Is Seth a delusional serial killer who kills and buries people he thinks are his mother?

Which of the young vacationers is the best Jenga player?

Will anyone be able to stack all the Jenga blocks in the container, in one tower?

Why is there footage of a kaleidoscope in the middle of the film?

Why is there footage of a yellow screen fading to back and back to yellow several times in the middle of the film?

Why does Eric meet a young version of his girl friend on a beach?

Why does the young version of Mallory look like another redhead
about the same age as Mallory?

Has Seth's mother returned as a ghost, or are the young vacationers all sharing the same nightmare?

Why is a group of people, dressed somewhat like Ku Klux Klansmen,
chanting a litany in the woods, at night?

Who are the "Klansmen"?

Why do the "Klansmen" use a cheap, black plastic salsa bowl for their rituals instead of a stone molcajete?

Why does Mallory start killing the "Klansmen," even though they seem to worship her?

Who among the young vacationers will survive their ordeals in Utah?

Who will live happily ever after?

The answers may be stranger than you think!

Review by William Mortensen Vaughan