Thursday Movie Picks #19: TV Edition: Dystopian/Apocalyptic

Hey! Welcome to Thursday Movie Picks where you get to share your movie picks for each topic presented every Thursday!  Based on the theme presented each week, you can pick up to 3 to 5 movies and explain why you picked those movies! This meme is being hosted by Wandering through the Shelves!

This week's theme is: TV Edition: Dystopian / Apocalyptic

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!

Even though dystopian shows are a thing nowadays, I don't really watch much of them.  But here are a couple of Dystopian themed shows that I have seen!

1. Psycho-Pass

Believing in humanity and order, policewoman Akane Tsunemori obeys the ruling, computerized precognitive Sibyl System.  But when she faces a criminal mastermind who can elude this "perfect" system, she questions the Sibyl and herself.

I've been watching this show for awhile now and it's pretty interesting!  An anime series that is about a system that judges whether or not people should live based on how many crimes they committed?  Sounds like a dangerous world to live in!

2. Jericho

A small town in Kansas is literally left in the dark after seeing a mushroom cloud over nearby Denver, Colorado.  The townspeople struggle to find answers about the blast and solutions on  how to survive.

I saw a couple of episodes from this show and it was pretty interesting in seeing how the people are trying to survive in this world after a nuclear explosion.  I'm still wondering why this show was cancelled in the first place, especially with the huge controversy this show caused over its cancellation. 

3. Black Mirror

An anthology series exploring a twisted, high-tech multiverse where humanity's greatest innovations and darkest instincts collide.

I saw a couple of episodes from this show and some of the episodes were pretty interesting, especially the episode where this guy lives in a world where he is forced to watch whatever TV programs that the system chooses for him, even if he doesn't want to watch those shows.

Thursday Movie Picks #18: Over a Meal

Hey! Welcome to Thursday Movie Picks where you get to share your movie picks for each topic presented every Thursday!  Based on the theme presented each week, you can pick up to 3 to 5 movies and explain why you picked those movies! This meme is being hosted by Wandering through the Shelves!

This week's theme is: Over a Meal!

This was a bit of a tough one, but I when I looked at the topic of this week's "Thursday Movie Picks," I was thinking back to some of my favorite food / dinner scenes in movies.  So, here are some of my favorite dinner scenes from movies!

1. Lady and the Tramp

The romantic tale of a sheltered uptown Cocker Spaniel dog and a streetwise downtown Mutt. 

Of course, I had to add in one of the most iconic dinner scenes in cinema history!  I will admit that this wasn't my favorite Disney movie, but I always loved that romantic dinner scene!

2. Last Holiday

Upon learning of a terminal illness, a shy woman decides to sell off all her possessions and live it up at a posh European hotel.

Oh man!  I always loved watching this movie!  Queen Latifah was brilliant in this film and this movie had always resonated with me on a personal level.  I especially loved the scene where Queen Latifah is having dinner in a fancy restaurant and she orders everything on the menu!  I definitely would love to do that at a restaurant someday!

3. Twister

Bill and Jo Harding, advanced storm chasers on the brink of divorce, must join together to create an advanced weather alert system by putting themselves in the cross-hairs of extremely violent tornadoes.

I remembered watching "Twister" a bit when I was little and what I remembered the most from that film (besides the tornado scenes of course) was the scene where the gang are sitting down to a dinner of steak and eggs!  I mean, how often do you seen a group of storm chasers sitting down to a delicious meal of steak and eggs?

[HORROR MOVIE CORNER] Hocus Pocus (1993)

Hello horror movie fans! Welcome to the all-new "Horror Movie Corner," where I talk about the horror movies that I have seen over the years!  So, this week's horror movie that I will be reviewing is Disney's cult Halloween classic "Hocus Pocus!"

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Title: Hocus Pocus

Starring:  Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy, Thora Birch, Omri Katz

Genre:  Comedy / Horror / Adventure

Company:   Disney

Directed by: Kenny Ortega

Year: 1993

MPAA Rating / TV Rating: Rated PG - For Some Scary Sequences, and for Language.

Buy on:   Blu-Ray.com  //  Amazon  //  Best Buy

This movie has some scary sequences that involves children being put into danger and some light language.  

The movie starts off with a young boy named Thackery Binx who finds out that his little sister Emily is missing and he goes out to search for her.  It was then that he finds out that the Sanderson Sisters, three sisters who are witches, had kidnapped her and Thackery tries to save Emily.  But unfortunately, the Sanderson Sisters ended up sucking out Emily's soul in order to make themselves younger and Thackery is too late to save her.  The Sanderson Sisters than put a curse on Thackery that turns him into a black cat for all eternity.  But then, the villagers caught up with the Sanderson Sisters and ended up hanging them.  But not before Winifred, the head witch, places a curse that they will be resurrected once a "virgin" lights the candle on Halloween.  The movie then fast forwards to the year 1993 and we are introduced to Max and his little sister Dani.  Max is having a horrible time in his new home in Salem, while Dani is adjusting to Salem just fine.  Then on Halloween night, Max decided to light the candle that would resurrect the Sanderson Sisters, despite both Dani and Allison telling him not to.  The Sanderson Sisters are then resurrected and they decided to continue their plan of sucking out the souls out of the children of Salem to make themselves younger.  Now, Dani, Max, Allison and now Binx, who is a black cat at this point, have to try to stop the Sandereson Sisters before it's too late!

Wow!  I'm actually surprised that I enjoyed this movie as much as I did!  When I first heard about this movie, I was a bit intrigued about what this movie was all about.  So, when I finally watched this movie, I was completely hooked!  I liked the fact that the movie tackled the subject of sibling relationships and how important it is to care about your siblings, no matter how annoying they can be.  This was best shown between the Sanderson Sisters, Thackery and his little sister Emily and Max and his little sister Dani.  The Sanderson Sisters are like the negative side of the sibling relationship as Winifred abuses her younger sisters Mary and Sarah and wouldn't think of protecting them.  Thackery and Emily are on the more positive side of the sibling relationship as Thackery truly cares about his sister Emily, although he failed to save her.  And then we have Max and Dani who are in the middle as they argue with each other a lot, but they would do anything to protect each other.  I also loved the way that the movie had a nice balance between horror and comedy as I laughed out loud during the Sanderson Sisters' crazy antics and yet, I was a bit scared for the children being threatened with death throughout this film.  Especially during the scene where Emily, a little girl , ends up dying at the beginning of the movie.  I especially loved the actors' performances in this film, with the Sanderson Sisters being the best part of the film.  Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy did a fantastic job at portraying the Sanderson Sisters as they were so hilarious and entertaining to watch! I also enjoyed Thora Birch's performance as Dani as she made Dani quite snarky yet energetic at the same time.

The only issues that I had with this film was that I felt that the protagonists were a bit too flat and I wished that they had explained the backstories of some of the characters.  Even though Max and Allison were interesting characters, they weren't as entertaining as the Sanderson Sisters and the only protagonists that were pretty entertaining were Dani and Binx the Cat.  Also, I would like to know how the Sanderson Sisters became witches in the first place (although it was implied that the Devil gave them their powers).

Overall, "Hocus Pocus" is a fantastic film that both children and adults will enjoy!  It balances horror and humor very well and it has some of the best performances from Sarah Jessica Parker, Bette Midler and Kathy Najimy!