Watch Movies TV Reviews: Desember 2018

Senin, 31 Desember 2018

Figurecoser 1/6th scale Lightning Girl Outfit & Head Sculpt Set for 12-inch female action figure

Watch Movies TV -Lightning is a fictional character from Square Enix's Final Fantasy series. She first appeared as a playable character and protagonist in the role-playing video game Final Fantasy XIII, in which she features as a resident of the artificial world of Cocoon. After her sister Serah is declared an enemy of Cocoon, Lightning attempts to save her. She and others are then chosen by the fal'Cie, a divided race of demigods who rule the worlds of Gran Pulse and Cocoon, to destroy Cocoon. Lightning reappears as a supporting character in Final Fantasy XIII-2, acting as protector of the Goddess Etro. She is the sole playable character in Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, wherein she sets out to save her world, which is destined to end in thirteen days. Outside the XIII series, Lightning has been featured in multiple Final Fantasy games and had cameo appearances in other video games.

Figurecoser 1/6th scale Lightning Girl Outfit & Head Sculpt Set for 12-inch figure Product Details: Female head sculpt, Relaxed hands x2, Hands of holding blade x2, Hands of holding gun x2, Cuff x2, Machine blade, Machine gun, Holster, Shoulder armor, Leg bag, Boots, Underwear, Pants, Coat, Short skirt, Girdle, Belt, Arm guard, Armlets x2, Cape. NOTE: Body Not Included (Ideal for Phicen S18A Body)

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Related posts:
Preview Pics of Super Duck 1/6th scale Lightning Outfit & Head Sculpt Set for 12-inch action figure posted on my toy blog HERE
Review of Hot Toys "Avengers: Age of Ultron" 1/6th scale Chris Hemsworth as Thor 12-inch Collectible Figure posted HERE and HERE

Tommy (5 Stars)

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I overwhelm as I approach you,
Make your lungs hold breath inside.
Grounded angels, your wings are broken,
Time to mend and learn to fly.

They worship me and all I touch,
Hazy eyed they catch my glance,
Pleasant shudders shake their senses,
My warm momentum throws their stance.

I leave a trail of rooted people,
Mesmerised by just the sight,
The few I touched now are disciples,
Love as one, I am the Light!

I am the Light!

My three reviews of this film so far have been very different. They all pick out different aspects of the film. It's a film that says a lot. It's not easy to reconcile the different parts of the film with one another because they tell different messages from one scene to the next. I didn't say that it's impossible to reconcile, just difficult. The problem with "Tommy", the film, is that it has unfathomable depths that have been breathed into it by Ken Russell. These are depths that are missing from the Who's original rock opera. Ken Russell took the Who's music and used it to tell his own story, with Pete Townsend's full approval. The result is a film of epic proportions.

Maybe one day I'll write a complete review of "Tommy". Maybe, maybe not. To do it justice I'd have to write something the length of a doctoral thesis. I'd have to pick out the film's individual themes one by one and follow their development.

The film is about false religion. It shows that all paths to salvation are doomed to fail. Religious systems attract evil men who fill the upper positions and make the most money. The religion's leader, the Messiah, is so involved with his teachings that he's unaware of the corruption in the organisational structure. When the followers turn against the religion they reject not only the corrupt officials but the Messiah himself, the very one who could help them.

That's one major theme. Another is the question whether the Messiah is right to apply his own personal path to salvation to his followers. Tommy began his life as a man who couldn't be saved. Then he found salvation, and rather than selfishly enjoying it he created a religion to offer others the same blessings by leading them along the same path that he trod. Is that correct? Maybe everyone needs to find his own path.

The film uses literally hundreds of extras, most of them unpaid. In the commentary track Ken Russell talks about where he found different groups of people. It would be interesting to see them get back together to talk about their reminiscences in making the film, or just to have a big party.

Barry Winch, the actor who plays Tommy as a six-year-old, didn't continue with an acting career. This was his only film. I've read some disturbing things about him. On Facebook he says that he's feeling suicidal after being homeless for two months. I don't know him, I've only seen him as a child, but this makes me sad.

Success Ratio: + 4.9

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15 Of My Most Notably Least Favourite Movies I've Seen in 2018

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I felt that I would wrap up 2018 by reflecting upon the highs and lows of the movies I've watched over the past 12 months. Sadly, there was so much dross and yet I cannot help be attracted to them to see if they are as horrific as people say it is. This post focuses on my least liked films of the year, taking in consideration what I've seen and compared to so many other bad and poor offerings, these ones, unfortunately, stood out the most as either tedious, bland, poor, not enjoyable for me personally or outright horrific, which made it on this list. Or that being said is all of the above.

These are my picks for my hall of shame (and as ever, opinions by me are, indeed, subjective)

Asian Schoolgirls (2014)

What they said: Steven Millan (Letterboxd)

Despite the promising-sounding premise, Asian School Girls comes off as an utterly sloppily constructed film that may contain a few nude scenes, two graphic rapes, and some spilt bloodshed (that includes a groin stabbing, a throat slashing and bullets through the head), but it is blandly directed, clumsily acted by the cast, and poorly scripted.

What I said: ...I understand that there needs to be more Asian American representation in film to boost visibility and promote its filmmakers and actors and actresses. But Asian School Girls just isn't one of them. Whatsoever. & they hinder, rather than help its progress

Sabotage (2014)

What they said: davey87 (Letterboxd)

Exceedingly and needlessly violent, outright misogynistic and vile in every sense of the word

What I Said:... The main characters are so abrasive, their obnoxiousness is so overwhelming. The only joy I got out of this film is seeing each one of them die

Robots (2005)

What they said: Your Auntie Erin (Letterboxd)

Why does the Robin Williams robot have a big nose...

What I Said: .... Worse and blander than Aladdin, but even worse and more forgettable than Ferngully, insofar as Robin Williams led animated fare goes, Robots is several screws loose, and more

The Dog Lover (2016)

What they said: HC (Amazon)

.... the acting is truly painful.... plus it's a pathetically, thinly-veiled attack against animal welfare groups who oppose the cruel Puppy Mill industry

What I Said: As well as the questionable script, the performances were, well, standard TV movie, straight to DVD fare. Of course, animals deserve to be treated with love and respect, but this felt like a propaganda film. So far removed it's unreal.

Smurfs: The Lost Village (2017)

What they said: Jon Turner (Letterboxd)

.... the real problem is the film itself. It's simply noisy, overstuffed with unfunny humour, wastes the talents of all actors involved, and above all, is totally devoid of genuine heart & substance

What I Said: She (in reference to Julia Roberts) and her meagre character said and did little of consequence & in all honesty, I liked her turn in The Ant Bully far more than in The Smurfs and the attempts by the writers to throw in a rom-com- ish subplot of her character, SmurfWillow falling for Papa Smurf, because, -well, it is a role she plays most of the time in her other movies so why not-, feels awfully trite, tacked on and desperate.

Kickboxer 4: The Aggressor (1994)

What they said: FrKurt Messick (Amazon)

This is a bad film. BAD.

What I said:

Badly flawed in almost every aspect but for the setting of the movie, Kickboxer 4 revels in its schlocky and rickety - yet pedestrian approach and whilst quantity-wise, there are more fights in this film than the last one and this offering resembles more of a kickboxing movie, quality-wise itself, it's still not good enough for me.

Behaving Badly (2014)

What they said: Leanne (Letterboxd)

It doesn't even deserve 1/2 star. There should be a negative star system just for this movie

What I said:

As much as people want to lay the blame on the producers for greenlighting dirge such as this, most of it should go to the likes of Mary-Louise Parker, Selena Gomez, Dylan McDermott and Elisabeth Shue: so-called established Hollywood actors, of whom ought to have known better

Molly (1999)

What they said: Koishi (Letterboxd)

A movie designed for NT normie Americans to feel better about themselves. Very offensive portrayal of autism.

What I said:

Molly is Rain Man meets Awakenings, but the tone is conflicting: it tries to be meaningful, but at the same time, some scenes are either just laughable or cringing, as they are straight-up bad.

Norbit (2007)

What they said: Jackson Kim Murphy (Letterboxd)

On its own reprehensible terms, Murphy runs a gauntlet of degradation here, hitting all the rungs from ambushes of emasculation to harsh fat-shaming to the mental instability of declining years; it represents a laudable willingness to do anything.

What I said:

Bowfinger was fantastic, Trading Places was fab and even Metro and Vampire In Brooklyn were all right. But with Norbit, though with others they will see to it as a misunderstood piece of comedy, unfortunately for me personally, this was just a complete and sheer train-wreck that is also unsalvageable.

Lady Bugs (1992)

What they said: Todd (Letterboxd)

The film has no logical audience and puts out a number of horrible messages in addition to being passively racist and VERY sexist

What I said:

It's also sudden to see all these questionable aspects in a so-called Pg/G-rated, kid & family friendly affair such as this. The set-ups, whilst they garner no more than chuckles, along with the sexual references & the comedy moments with Matthew transitioning between himself and Martha fail to elicit any amusement from me, as none of the jokes land whatsoever. Some scenes felt uncomfortable, tacky and are deemed inappropriate for younger viewers.

Britney Ever After (2017)

What they said: Lazaros (Letterboxd)

All in all, yet another Lifetime biopic without the approval of the person in question, which comes off as rather tacky and poorly handled on all ends.

What I Said:

This is the worst music biopic based on a pop star I have seen and surpasses the Aaliyah one with cheap looking production values, plot inaccuracies and it makes a mockery of not only the singer but to her fans also.

Killshot (2008)

What they said: Nicolas (Letterboxd)

... this is a shabby thriller without actual moments of suspense and with a ridiculous dressed Mickey Rourke to boot.

What I Said:

When there is no action set piece, the story remains stilted, trite and the more the film went on, it gradually became worse it was torturous to endure, and if it wasn't for Levitt, Killshot would be even more shallow and vacuous than it already is.

Survival Island (2005)

What they said: Asher (Letterboxd)

The best thing about this movie is the cover

What I Said:

I think what some people may find problematic is the fact that Kelly Brooks's Jennifer is a golddigger, who manages to manipulate both men & stringing them along, despite Zane's character being touted as the bad guy. & in the end, she gets away with it.

Soul Man (1989)

What they said: Matt (Letterboxd)

Zero f***ing stars. Not even half a star. Just a fat zero... Bumfights 1 was more redeeming

What I said:

Aside from the Blackface issue, Soul Man is utterly charmless and humourless to a tee and the story is just not good, at all.

Powder Blue (2008)

What they said:

Despite the starry cast, Powder Blue is boring and lifeless. I assume it was two hours, but felt like it would never end. Meh

What I said:

Though the drama aspect becomes more engaging, Powder Blue's tonality is utterly bleak and not the least bit feel-good. Film-wise, it is a sheer waste of the talents of those involved and the juggling of the characters' subplots and plights is both tone-deaf and doesn't amount to anything worthwhile or fulfilling and they fail to interconnect. Instead of tugging at the heartstrings and trying to make me emphasise with the characters

Dishonourable mentions:

Full Frontal, Jack Frost, Money Train, Fun With Dick & Jane, Deck The Halls, The Punisher (2004), The Trouble With The Truth, My Giant, Never Back Down, The Hard Corps, Bad Bizness, Double Take, Christmas with the Kranks, Luis and the Aliens, Cook-Off, The Box, Daddy's Little Girls, A.I: Artificial Intelligence, Fireflies In The Garden, Throttle, The Trouble With The Truth

General: Top Films of 2018

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This is my personal list of the 10 best films of the year. Before you read it and angrily write that I shouldn't have omitted <fill-in-the-blank>, let me make a few remarks:

To qualify for the list I must have seen the film in the cinema in 2018. Any film that I didn't see will not be included. Maybe I decided not to see a film. Maybe I missed a film because I was sick in bed and couldn't go out. Maybe a film wasn't shown in my local cinemas. Whatever the reason, if I didn't see a film in the cinema it won't be in the list.

By the same reasoning, it's relevant when I see the film. If a film is shown over the New Year period from December to January the film might be included in one year or the other, depending on when I go to see it. In the same way, some films, particularly the Oscar contenders, are released in the USA in one year but not shown in other countries until the next.

1. Deadpool 2

"Deadpool" was my second favourite film of 2016, but it was a very close second to "Doctor Strange" and could just as well have been in first place. If "Deadpool" had been in first place in 2016 I would have named a film starring Brianna Hildebrand best film of the year three years in a row.

2. Avengers: Infinity War

This is the film that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been building up to for the last 10 years, especially since we first glimpsed Thanos in the after-credits scene of "The Avengers", also called "Avengers Assemble" or "Marvel's Avengers Assemble".

3. Ant-Man and the Wasp

The first Ant-Man film took a while to grow on me, but I loved the second film from the start.

4. I, Tonya

I can't explain what I like so much about this film. I have no interest in the real life character Tonya Harding, but this film has overwhelmed me.

5. 3 Days in Quiberon

I expected this film about Romy Schneider's final interview to be good, but I wasn't prepared for just how good it would be.

6. Heavy Trip

This was the best film of the 2018 Stuttgart Fantasy Film Festival. It's a comedy, but it's a subversive comedy. I'm already desperate to see it again. When will it be available on Blu-ray?

7. Mandy

This is an overpowering film. Maybe it deserves to be higher in my list. I'll know the next time I see it, but today at midnight is the deadline. If I haven't changed my mind by then it'll remain in seventh place.

8. The Shape of Water

When I saw this film in January I thought it would be the best film of the year. I didn't reckon with the surprises in the following months.

9. The Death of Stalin

For most people this was a 2017 film, but in Germany it was shown six months later than in the rest of the world.

10. Loving Vincent

This film started in German cinemas on December 28th, but I didn't see it until January 4th. It deserves special praise for its unique cinematography.

That's my list for this year. I went to the cinema 110 times, and I've seen 104 films. (The films I saw twice were "Ant-Man and the Wasp", "Black Panther", "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Climax", "Jurassic Park: Lost World" and "The Shape of Water").

I welcome top 10 lists from my readers. Please leave them in the comments.

Boy Erased

Watch Movies TV -

Writer-director Joel Egerton, who also plays a major role in the film, has put together a very good film, based on a true story, about an 18-year-old man whose parents send him to a Christian facility offering gay conversion therapy (i.e. he will be converted from being gay to being straight, since being gay is just a bad choice he has made in his life).

Lucas Hedges stars as Jared, and he does a great job, as do Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman as his parents, Marshall and Nancy. There are a number of well-drawn characters and lots of good dialogue telling an important story. Unfortunately, I think it’s the attempt to provide a sensitive nuanced story that prevents Boy Erased from becoming a great film, one that fully engages the heart as well as the mind.

Boy Erased gets ***+. My mug is up. Highly recommended to anyone who wonders what gay conversion therapy looks like (and how evil it is).

MMFF 2018: Review of ONE GREAT LOVE: Serendipity or Stupidity?

Watch Movies TV - December 31, 2018

This was not exactly the movie I wanted to see, but this was the one that exactly fit that limited window of time I had at the mall. Anyway, it did win 3rd Best Picture and Best Actor (Dennis Trillo won over sure lock Eddie Garcia!) for this festival, so it probably was not as cheesy a romance film as it looked. I did not expect that it would actually be even cheesier than what I was imagining it to be.

Entrepreneur Zyra still could not move on after her pilot boyfriend Capt. Carl Mauricio simply disappeared from her life for four years without any communication. Meanwhile, her best friend, busy young cardiac surgeon Dr. Ian Arcano, had been her sympathetic ear and her shoulder to cry on whenever she got the blues. One day, Carl suddenly showed up asking for forgiveness, just when Ian was gathering up guts to tell Zyra his real feelings for her. Who will Zyra end up with?

Actually that first decision was not really the end of Zyra's story. Just when you thought she had already learned her lessons in life and love, there she goes on with her silly little cycle of self-pity and delusions of serendipity and then repeats the same mistake all over again. We hear her call herself stupid and pathetic. You know, Zyra, we the audience could not agree with you more, in the superlative degree on both counts. Watching you step on that toxic rusty nail of a relationship over and over was more painful for us than it was for you.

I wish Kim Chiu had not been the one playing this annoyingly dense and masochistic character Zyra. She has got to be one of the most ill-conceived, moronically foolish movie characters that I had ever seen in a local dramatic movie. I refuse to believe that there a real woman like this in this day and age. Not only is Zyra a monumental dummy, she is also a ruthlessly heartless Jezebel. Was this character written for us to feel sorry for her, or to hate her? Watching her do her imbecilic thing for almost two hours was cinematic torture. Kim Chiu deserves way better roles than this insultingly trashy character.

Dennis Trillo was supposed to be a hotshot cardiac surgeon Ian, but he did not really come across creditably as one. But the big question was, did he deserve to win that Best Actor prize over Eddie Garcia? Well, Trillo had more dramatic moments where he can show off his ability to cry on cue. But honestly, had he not done similar roles like this before in his other films and telenovelas? This role was right in his comfort zone. He did not need to stretch too much to nail the performance. It did not look like he was challenged at all.

JC de Vera was never subtle in portraying his character. He had this certain way of delivering his sleazy lines that immediately revealed his rascally intentions. Carl was so obviously pretentious and insincere, which made Zyra look all the more stupid than we already knew she was at that point. All he needed to do was flash that smile, prepare a beautiful bouquet of flowers and call himself a cute nickname like "the boy who hates to fly," and presto, he is back in Zyra's life! Effortless. Just like shooting fish in a pail. Disgusting.

Up to the end of this unbearably sappy mush directed by Enrico S. Quizon (who as Eric Quizon also played Zyra's bon viviant father), you do not really know who or what "one great love" the title is talking about. If this was the Third Best Picture of the 2018 MMFF, I dread to venture further to watch the rest of the other entries. I'd hate to follow Zyra's sorry example and spend more money to buy more hammers to bang my head in again. 2/10.

Timing of My Year End Report

Watch Movies TV -Hello all,

You may recall in year's past, that while I go overboard with my year end report - listing the top 30 movies of the year, having other lists for each of the acting categories, and animated films and docs and disappointing films and worst films - and my own Oscar Ballot - I'm always later than most, as I like to ensure I see everything I should before posting, and more often than not, there are a few contenders that qualify themselves, then go wide in January. This year, there is really only 1 film that I missed, that I need to catch up on when it goes wider - but it's a big one - Barry Jenkins' If Beale Street Could Talk. Considering the massive acclaim, and my love of Moonlight, it seems silly to do a top 10 list without seeing it. Hopefully, that could be as soon as this weekend - it's supposed to expand on January 4th, and I head back to work this week anyway in Toronto, so one way or another, I should see it. (I supposed one could argue On the Basis of Sex as well - but that hasn't really found a footing this awards season - although, I'm still interested).

There are others I would love to see - a quintet of docs - Minding the Gap, Hale County This Morning This Evening, Bisbee '17, Monrovia Indiana and Did You Wonder Who Fired the Gun - on top of that list, but while all seem available in America, none are available here in Canada (other than Minding the Gap, that played at the Lightbox the week I was at Disney World, I don't think any were even released here). So my doc list will have a HUGE asterisk on it this year, but what I can do? I may get to catch up with another of my big ones - Paul Dano's Wildlife (another film that never hit Canada) - but we'll have to see when it actually hits streaming here in Canada.

Bottom line, I'm behind this year - so we're looking at the second or third week of January before I can get the lists out. I'm behind on writing them - not to mention I have to write 11 reviews of the movies I've seen over Christmas break (Bumblebee, Shoplifters, Vox Lux, Bird Box, Aquaman, Vice, Mary Poppins Returns, Ben is Back, Bodied, Divide and Conquer: The Story of Roger Ailes and Mary Queen of Scots - as well. I'll get up my lists as soon as I can. Until then, stick around - those reviews are coming, and soon after, the lists.

Thanks for reading.

Aquaman [2018]

Watch Movies TV -

MPAA (PG-13) CNS/USCCB (A-III) RogerEbert.com (3 1/2 Stars) AVClub (B-) Fr. Dennis (1 1/2 Stars)

IMDb listing
CNS/USCCB (J. Mulderig) review
Los Angeles Times (K. Turan) review
RogerEbert.com (M. Zoller-Seitz) review
AVClub (I. Vishnevetsky) review

Aquaman [2018] (directed and screen story co-created by James Wan along with Geoff Johns and Will Beall screenplay by David Leslie, Johnson-McGoldrick and Will Beall and based on the DC "Aquaman" Comic [wikip] [DC] [GR] [WCat] [Amzn] created by Paul Norris [wikip] [IMDb] and Mort Weisinger [wikip] [IMDb]), is one of those films that one has to "enter the story" as a wide-eyed 10 year old (boy) with the pages of an Aquaman Comic [wikip] [DC] in his hands for the very first time. If you're not willing or unable to do this, you'll neither be able to understand this story nor be able appreciate the film's manifold technical achievements. For the film makers were able to breathe life into those already spectacular / fantastic comic book pages.

That said, the story-telling here suffers IMHO (!) from the _same deficiencies_ as other adaptations of DC comic book characters (as compared to the storytelling of its Marvel Comics rivals). While the characters of Marvel's comics (both good and evil) have compelling/conflicted, eminently relatable, if perhaps exaggerated ("operatic," well, "comic book" ;-) backstories, character development in DC's universe seems intentionally BESIDE THE POINT. In DC's universe, the superheroes (and supervillains) are above all SIMPLY AWESOME (beyond our reach).

So in this story, we watch a battle develop between TWO factions of undersea kingdoms who trace their roots to the lost civilization of Atlantis, and, again, to ask too many questions (beginning with WHY?) is BESIDE THE POINT / to be almost WILDLY "UNGRATEFUL." We're just invited to be THRILLED by the clash of two factions, one riding elaborate 25' tall sea horses and the other riding on the backs of armored sharks.

Again to a 10-12 year old boy, especially with all the young women, all quite amply endowed, being dressed in the tightest of formfitting gear, embellished with shiny, mermaid-like scales (and armed with exploding tridents, or underwater laser blasters) WHAT POSSIBLY COULD BE MORE AWESOME THAN THIS?? But ... well ... is there anything more ...?

As far as I could see ... no.

So I honestly liked Marvel's development of Thor, also a demigod, if from "a different realm" so much better than the simple if ... after a while, tired ... AWESOMENESS here.

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2018 Year-in-Review

Watch Movies TV -I made it! Dear readers, I was not sure if I was going to be able to write those words, given what 2018 has been. Personally and globally, this has been a hard year, and there have been many times I thought I would have to pause or quit entirely with my reviewing. But 2018 is officially over, and as I release my recommended reading list for 2018 I also want to pause and look back at my own year, offering a few words and a bunch of stats.

First, a huge thank you to all of my patrons and to everyone who has contributed to my ko-fi or my partner’s GoFundMe. Without you, none of this would be possible. Running Quick Sip Reviews and doing so much in terms of reading and reviewing is not without cost, especially time and opportunities, and without the support I’ve received this year from so many people I just wouldn’t be able to continue. As it is, I think I’ve turned in a pretty solid year of regular and (hopefully) thoughtful reviews and genre commentary. The numbers by month and then overall are below, and I’ll touch briefly on the numbers and then move into a little bit of the state of the field, and then close on my plans for 2019.

January: 57 stories | 13 poems [70 reviews]

Total: 683 stories | 133 poems [816 reviews]

So this was technically a down year for total reviews and story reviews, though I think I’ve reviewed more longer short SFF (namely, novellas, than in past years), as well as written more about each individual story (my average words/review is well over 400). It seems that the lightest months came in June and December, which makes sense for a number of reasons (mostly how the quarterlies I cover release). I’m up, though, in poems reviewed from last year, and rather happy about that. SFF poetry doesn’t get a lot of attention, but I dearly love it, even if it’s often a challenge to review.

2018 didn’t see an awful lot of additions to my reviewing slate, either. I’ve been pretty steady, which meant there wasn’t much of a cause to add more. The big exception to that is that I started reviewing Arsenika and Anathema. Of course, Arsenika seems to be on a bit of a hiatus, so I’m unsure if I’ll continue reviewing that. Hopefully I can make things work, though. The bigger news of 2018 has been a few high profile closings. At least, high profile for me. Both Shimmer Magazine and Book Smugglers Publishing announced that they would not be going forward into 2019, which just hurts my heart, to be honest. Shimmer was a publication I’ve been following since I got into the genre, and I have reviewed every public work The Book Smugglers have put out and a number of their for-sale-only works as well. Both venues have featured me as a writer and they have been among my very favorite sources of short SFF for a long time. Just...okay, deep breathing.

It leaves me with a bit of a question of what to do going forward into 2019. And the answer is...well, I’m still not 100% sure. I do know that in addition to Anathema Magazine, I will be adding some serial projects from Serial Box (one that I’ve already started reviewing and another that I’ll start reviewing in February). On top of that, I plan to begin regular reviews of at least one of the Escape Artists podcasts. That might be all for now, but I also plan to reach out to a few larger venues for review copy in order to widen my reading. It’s something I’ve avoided for a long time because of the work involved, but I might (and no guarantees) see if I can get review copies from Asimov’s, Fantasy & Science, and Analog but maybe...not...review the whole issues. Sigh. You see, I’ve been struggling a while with this, because I know there’s a lot of amazing work being done at those publications, and a part of me wants to read and review all of them. But...

Logistically, I just can’t. They put out A Lot between them, and adding that to my already-full roster would be...too much. For context, each of those publications puts out more than Shimmer and The Book Smugglers combined. I could have maybe added one of them to 2019 if I hadn’t added Anathema or Serial Box (or any of EA), but only one, and when I asked online people seemed to think it more important to focus on venues that might not see any attention. Trust me, I’d rather read and review it all. But as a Millennial with debts, a job that doesn’t really pay that much, supporting my husband going back to school, and dealing with life in general, I cannot. I. Can. Not. The only thing that would save me time and allow me to maybe read those venues would be to not have to review everything. Or even most things. But it would allow me to pull from those places for my recommended reading list, my Sippys, and more. I’m not sure if those venues would even care at that point, and maybe I won’t be able to get review copy so it’s a moot point. But I do think I might try it and see how it goes.

With that, I’m also without a monthly review column at the moment, a first for me since late 2014. Right now, I think I might expand my Patreon some to give more recommendations there, perhaps even a Pick of the Week-style post that would be patron-exclusive. I do need to try and fund the time and effort I put into reviewing, even if I wish I could do it all for free. I will continue to post my monthly queer reading lists for free on my Patreon, so if you’ve enjoyed that, it will keep on! Anyway, that’s me right now. 2018 has ended, and 2019 has dawned. I’m looking forward to another excellent year of short SFF!

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The Quick Sip Reviews 2018 Recommended Reading List

Watch Movies TV -Okay, so first a few disclaimers. This list is compiled from my reading, and I have a rather strict reading list. As such, there’s a lot that I’ve missed. You can find what I read here. Further, this list reflects simply my tastes when it comes to short SFF. I read a lot, and review a lot, but that doesn’t really make me an expert on what is “good.” As the title implies, though, these are definitely stories that I recommend everyone read, because they are awesome. I tried to put something of a restriction on the number of stories I’m listing here, so there are only 5 novellas, 20 novelettes, and 50 short stories (for a total of 75 works). Which means these represent something like the top 10% of the stories I read this last year. What’s more, you can find my reviews of these works by searching the site (in the top left of the blog but only if you’re not viewing in mobile mode). Most of these have also been featured in X Marks the Story at The Book Smugglers, so there’s that, too.

This is also just a gutting, incredibly difficult project for me, because I love so many stories. Needless to say there is A LOT of short SFF that appeared in 2018 that doesn't appear here that I would also recommend. In the interests of keeping the list manageable, though...I've done my best to not go overboard.

Okay, that’s about it. Without further delay, my 2018 recommended reading list!

Novellas

Berger, Michele Tracy, “Nussia” (The Book Smugglers)
Gilman, Caroline Ives, “Umberlight” (Clarkesworld)
Sanford, Jason, “The Emotionless, In Love” (Beneath Ceaseless Skies)
Willrich, Chris, “Shadowdrop" (Beneath Ceaseless Skies)
Yang, JY, “Between the Firmaments” (The Book Smugglers)

Novelettes

Baker, Celeste Rita, “De Motherjumpers” (Strange Horizons)
Cipri, Nino, “Dead Air” (Nightmare)
Connolly, Tina, “The Last Banquet of Temporal Confections” (Tor)
de Bodard, Aliette, “Court of Birth, Court of Strength” (Beneath Ceaseless Skies)
Gregory, Daryl, “Nine Last Days on Planet Earth” (Tor)
Jansen, Mike, “Fluxless” (Samovar)
Joffre, Ruth, “Nitrate Nocturnes” (Lightspeed)
Johnson, Kij, “The Privilege of the Happy Ending” (Clarkesworld)
Kurella, Jordan, “Three Dandelion Stars” (Beneath Ceaseless Skies)
Longxiang, Luo, translated by Dudak, Andy, “The Foodie Federation’s Dinosaur Farm” (Clarkesworld)
Marcroft, Evan, “Chasing the Start” (Strange Horizons)
Nichols, Russell, “What Man Knoweth” (Strange Horizons)
Pang, Y.M., “The Palace of the Silver Dragon” (Strange Horizons)
Paul, Shari, “The Epic of Sakina” (Fiyah)
Rolon, Nelson, “Saudade" (Fiyah)
Ronald, Margaret, “Silence in Blue Glass” (Beneath Ceaseless Skies)
Rustad, A. Merc & Hoffmann, Ada, “I Sing Against the Silent Sun” (Lightspeed)
Tsamaase, Tlotlo, “Murders Fell From Our Wombs” (Apex)
Wanak, LaShawn M., “Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Memphis Minnie Sing the Stumps Down Good” (Fiyah)
Yap, Isabel, “How to Swallow the Moon” (Uncanny)

Short Stories

Alexander, William, “The House on the Moon” (Uncanny)
Beautement, Tiah Marie, “Momento Mori” (Omenana)
Berrout, Jamie, “A Snow, A Flood, A Fire” (Strange Horizons)
Bryski, KT, “Song of the Oliphant” (Lackingtons)
Cárdenas, Tori, “The River” (Terraform)
Carrol, Siobhan, “The War of Light and Shadow, in Five Dishes” (Beneath Ceaseless Skies)
Chan, L, “The Last Epic Pub Crawl of The Brothers Pennyfeather” (The Dark)
Charette, Stephanie, “By the Hand That Casts It” (Shimmer)
Clark, Phenderson Djèlí, “The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington” (Fireside)
Dollarhyde, Kate, "A Taxonomy of Hurts" (Fireside)
Dunbar, Eboni J., “The Percivals: The Bennett Benefit” (Fiyah)
Fitzwater, A.J., “Logistics” (Clarkesworld)
Fogg, Vanessa, “Traces of Us” (GigaNotoSaurus)
Fox, Ani, “Coyote Now Wears a Suit" (Apex)
Fox, Sara, “When the Letter Comes” (The Book Smugglers)
Griswold, Amy, “The Questing Beast” (Glittership)
Harris, Nin, “Violets on the Tongue” (Clarkesworld)
Harrow, Alix E., “A Witch’s Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies” (Apex)
Hoffman, Ada, “Variations on a Theme from Turandot” (Strange Horizons)
Hui, Chi, translated by Dudak, Andy, “The Heaven-Moving Way” (Apex)
Ilo, Innocent Chizaram, “Of Warps and Wefts” (Strange Horizons)
Kassel, Mel, “Ten Deals with The Indigo Snake” (Lightspeed)
Killjoy, Margaret “Into the Gray” (Tor)
Lee, Yoon Ha, “The Starship and the Temple Cat” (Beneath Ceaseless Skies)
Lubangakene, Derek, “Origami Angels” (Omenana)
McCombs, Theodore, “Talk to Your Children about Two-Tongued Jeremy” (Lightspeed)
Miller, Sam J., “Conspicuous Plumage” (Lightspeed)
Mills, Samantha, “Strange Waters” (Strange Horizons)
Muneshwar, Ian, “Salt Lines” (Strange Horizons)
Neri, Celia, “The Barnum Effect” (Apex)
O'Brien, Brandon. “The Howling Detective” (Uncanny)
Ohaegbu, Chimedum, “Toothsome Things” (Strange Horizons)
Osborne, Emma, “Don’t Pack Hope” (Nightmare)
Ow, Anya, “Everything Under Heaven" (Uncanny)
Peynado, Brenda, “The Kite Maker” (Tor)
Prasad, Vina Jie-Min, “Pistol Grip” (Uncanny)
Pueyo, H., “What the South Wind Whispers” (Clarkesworld)
Roberts, Erin, “Sour Milk Girls” (Clarkesworld)
Sen, Nibedita, “Leviathan Sings to Me in the Deep” (Nightmare)
Shawl, Nisi, “The Things I Miss the Most” (Uncanny)
Sjunneson-Henry, Elsa & Rustad, A. Merc, “By Claw, By Hand, By Silent Speech” (Uncanny)
Skerry, Cory, “Antumbra” (Shimmer)
Szpara, K.M., “You Can Make a Dinosaur, but You Can’t Help Me” (Uncanny)
Vaughn, Carrie, “The Island of Beasts” (Nightmare)
Wagner, E.K., “More Blood Than Bone” (Heroic Fantasy Quarterly)
Warrick, Dee, “Me, Waiting for Me, Hoping for Something More” (Shimmer)
Wasserstein, Izzy, “Unplaces: An Atlas of Non-existence” (Clarkesworld)
Wehm, M. Darusha, “A Most Elegant Solution” (Terraform)
Williams, Takim, “The Sower” (Fiyah)
Yu, E. Lily, “Music for the Underworld” (Terraform)

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Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)

The Rotting Zombie's Round-up of Horror News for December 2018

Watch Movies TV -

Here we are, the final day and the final blog post for 2018. This has not been a good year, I would liken my travel as to that of Dante's journey into Hell. Things have certainly improved with outcomes that would not have occurred had that trip not happened. Still, sometimes I wake up in the night, memories of that fearsome sight of Satan encased in ice, forever trapped in Judecca. All that is to say...roll on the news!

Terror Films has joined forces with Jim Klock (Massacre on Aisle 12, 6.66 PM) and his Code 3 Films group for a three picture deal. The first of these three is to be Red Letters which is currently in post production. The films is about two private investigators who take on a dangerous assignment that leads them to true evil. The film stars Darrell Martinelli, Emily Adams, Kelsey Trainer, and Klock himself who also wrote and directed this. Check out the teaser trailer for this.

In time for the Christmas season (that is pretty much over, damn you Silent Singer!) came O' Bloody Night, released by Troma Now on Video-On-Demand. This horror is an anthology, one of my favourite types of film, and of course as the title may suggest, these shorts all take place around the Christmas period. To see this for yourself head here.

Horror reviewer/interviewer Spooky Astronauts and Andrew J.D Robinson (The Becky Carmichael Fan Club, founder of the annual 15 Second Horror Film Challenge) have teamed up to make an immersive how-to filmmaking video for aspiring filmmakers of short films. If that appeals to you then watch the video below.

The easier to pronounce than it first appears to be Agalmatophilia has been released on DVD, VHS and Prime thanks to Frolic Pictures. This bizarre movie is about an office clerk who hires a new secretary that just so happens to be a living mannequin, soon he becomes to develop feeling for it. It sounds all very weird and arty, a guess backed up by the fact this was all shot in black and white. It certainly sounds like something different that's for sure!

The Man in Room Six is an art-house horror film that stars the legend Bill Oberst Jr. (Coyote, DIS) and Jackie Kelly. It is directed by Trevor Juenger who also did Coyote. There is a crowdfunding campaign going on at Seed&Spark to help raise funds for this, more information can be found here. The Man in Room Six is about a troubled woman who meets an elderly man (Oberst Jr.) in a nursing home who claims to be immortal. When this man goes missing the woman is accused of his murder and committed to a girls' psychiatric ward.

Finally, in January 2019 comedy horror Hell's Kitty is going to be screened in the UK at the Horror-on-Sea Festival. This movie is about a writer and his possessed cat Angel that won't allow him to have a love life. Among it's claimed iconic cast is Doug Jones (Shape of Water). For more information about the festival go here, and for more information on the film itself check out their website.