i'm kael's ghost

There's something weird about Canada. It's not that they speak French or wear plaid. It's not even their freezing cold winters or their socialized health care. On second thought, their socialized health care may actually have something to do with it. Take a look back at "Death Takes A Holiday, Sort Of" where Vickie Goldberg examines the "nearness of death to life" and how that affects the portrayal of death in media; the gist being that a lower mortality rate in life means a higher mortality rate in media. Perhaps available health care for Canadian citizens has bred the wealth of extreme body-horror movies that Canada produces. Let me segue from that thought into today's movie adventure: Antiviral. Written and directed by Brandon Cronenberg (son of the legendary David Cronenberg ). The movie fared well on the festival circuit but hasn't quite reach the popularity of any of his father's works. (And I'm sure that's an unfair com...

I'll be honest here and say that I never saw the first movie ( The Collector ) and was only (moderately) aware that it was a thing when I opted to watch this movie the other night. That said, I was able to watch The Collection without needing whatever "back story" or set up the first one may have set up. (Possibly a mark in the plus column?) Throughout, I actually had less of the feeling, "I'm missing something from the first movie" and more of the feeling, "They're leading up to the movie that will come after this." So, about the movie. If I'd paid to see this movie in the theatre, I'd be annoyed. Having watched it on Netflix, at least I can be comforted knowing that I only wasted my time not my time and  my money. The acting is (sort of) over-the-top but not more than I expected for the movie from a cast that is generic but acceptable. There are a few token "movie stars" in there: Chris McDonald  & Lee Tergese...