Stubs - Leap Year (1924)

Leap Year (1924) Starring Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, Mary Thurman, Lucien Littlefield, Harriet Hammond, Clarence Geldart. Directed by Roscoe Arbuckle, James Cruze. Screenplay by Sarah Y. Mason, Walter Woods No Producer Credited. Run time: 56 minutes. Black and White. USA. Silent, Comedy

Though finished in 1921, Leap Year would not get released in the United States until 1981. This was due to the scandal that would strike star, Fatty Arbuckle, a few months after he completed this film in connection with the death of actress Virginia Rappe following a Labor Day party Arbuckle was hosting at the Hotel St. Francis in San Francisco.

Charged with rape and manslaughter in connection with Rappe’s death from a ruptured bladder, Arbuckle had three trials in connection with the charges. The first two would end in mistrials, but the third would end on April 12, 1922 with a jury acquittal. In addition to the verdict, the jury released a statement, “Acquittal is not enough for Roscoe Arbuckle. We feel that a great injustice has been done to him … there was not the slightest proof adduced to connect him in any way with the commission of a crime. He was manly throughout the case and told a straightforward story which we all believe. We wish him success and hope that the American people will take the judgment of fourteen men and women that Roscoe Arbuckle is entirely innocent and free from all blame.”

Despite the jury’s sentiments, by 1923, after most theaters refused to run his films due to the scandal, Paramount had shelved the film, as well as two other films he had already finished, The Life of the Party (1921) and Brewster's Millions (1921) in the US. But the studio did release Leap Year overseas, the first being Finland on April 27, 1924.

Should a Man Marry, the film’s original title, went before cameras on Catalina Island in late May, 1921 and had a four-week shoot. The title changed in August, 1921 to This Is So Sudden, and again in September to Skirt Shy. Leap Year  would be the name it would be released under in Europe.

Despite the title, Leap Year, has nothing to do with the additional day added to the Georgian calendar every quadrennial.

PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie

 

With the continuing success of Spin Master’s PAW Patrol multimedia franchise, the logical conclusion was the theatrically-released PAW Patrol: The Movie in 2021. This proved successful enough to warrant a sequel in 2023, PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie, which revisits the Mighty Pups subline of the series. Having seen the original PAW Patrol film on Paramount+ and actually enjoyed it, I became curious about The Mighty Movie with cautious optimism for a similar level of quality, but opted to wait for its Paramount+ release since I didn’t feel strongly enough about seeing it in the theater. Upon getting the chance to watch it, I still found myself enjoying it even as a non-fan.

Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

Note: This review contains spoilers for Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief.

Whether or not you’re familiar with middle grade fiction, there’s a good chance you’ve heard of Percy Jackson & the Olympians, a novel series by Rick Riordan about a young demigod named Percy Jackson. The series proved popular enough that a film based on the first book, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (The Lightning Thief), was released in 2010. The film, directed by Chris Columbus, did well at the box office, but was criticized, even by the author, for the way it deviated from the source material. It was actually around when the film released that I first became aware of Percy Jackson, although I didn’t do anything with that knowledge at the time because both the Harry Potter and A Series of Unfortunate Events series had reached their end around that time and I thought I had outgrown middle grade fiction. As an adult, however, when I rediscovered the joy of reading middle grade fiction, I finally dipped my toe into Percy Jackson and read the first book in time for the Disney+ adaptation, which I enjoyed. Afterwards, I decided to try watching the film just to see how badly it had apparently handled the same material. By the end, I realized that my past self was right in not watching it.

Transformers: EarthSpark - Expedition

As most Transformers fans are familiar with, the franchise goes through a refresh every three years in an effort to attract new fans. 2022 saw the launch of the most recent incarnation, Transformers: EarthSpark, on Paramount+, which follows the batch release format and completed its first Season last year, with a second on the way as of this writing. As someone who has been watching it in an effort to stay current with the TV side of the franchise as much as possible, I so far don’t find it to be on the same level as Prime or Animated in terms of story, but I think it has some great animation and interesting ideas, such as the concept of the Terrans and the Season 1 antagonist Mandroid, and I’m at least curious to see what the second season will bring (that said, the Season 1 ending was a little rough).

Last year, a video game based on the cartoon was also announced called Transformers: EarthSpark – Expedition (Expedition), which caught my interest due to being what seemed more like the sort of Transformers console gaming experience I been wanting since Fall of Cybertron, though I had already tempered my expectations due to it being a family-oriented game published by Outright Games. Said expectations were met just by glancing at gameplay on display at Comic-Con that year, but I still wanted to experience it myself, eventually getting it on sale for Black Friday after it came out later in the year. Despite a PS5 version having been announced, I could not find any evidence of its availability in the US, which led me to get the PS4 version with a free PS5 upgrade. While the game did meet my already tempered expectations, I feel like it could still have been better.

Review Hub - Silent Hill

Since the original Silent Hill game launched on the PlayStation in 1999, the Silent Hill series has capitalized on its unique brand of psychological horror, typically showcasing normal people struggling to move past their personal demons. The Team Silent era is usually held in the highest regard, but even the games developed afterwards display a clear passion for the series and a willingness to take it in bold, new directions. While the cancellation of Silent Hills certainly still stings, P.T. is still a continued source of inspiration for other horror developers. As Konami moves forward with its full revival of the brand, we'll continue hoping for the best from what's to come.

Below is a list of links to every Silent Hill review on this blog, separated by development era and medium and listed in release order.

Team Silent

 

  

Silent Hill (Game)

Silent Hill 2

Silent Hill 3

Silent Hill HD Collection

Silent Hill 4: The Room

Post-Team Silent

  
  

Silent Hill: Origins

Silent Hill: Homecoming

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories

Silent Hill: Downpour

Silent Hill Downpour: Anne's Story

P.T. (Second Look)

 

Revival

 

Silent Hill: The Short Message

Films

 

Silent Hill (Film)

Silent Hill: Revelation

Stubs - The Holdovers

The Holdovers (2023) starring Paul Giamatti, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Dominic Sessa. Directed by Alexander Payne. Screenplay by David Hemingson Produced by Mark Johnson, Bill Block, David Hemingson. Run time: 133 minutes. Color. USA Comedy, Drama, Christmas

After six years between projects, Alexander Payne returns to the screen, and re-teamed with Sideways star, Paul Giamatti, with The Holdovers (2023), a comedy drama set at Christmas vacation in 1970 at a private boys school. The result has been nominated for several Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Giamatti), Best Supporting Actress (Da'Vine Joy Randolph), Best Original Screenplay (David Hemingson), and Best Film Editing (Kevin Tent).

Silent Hill: The Short Message

For nearly a decade, Silent Hill was considered a dead franchise following the cancellation of Silent Hills and subsequent delisting of P.T. While I was already upset with Konami’s actions after their treatment of Hideo Kojima (who would have directed Silent Hills with Guillermo del Toro) came to light, the idea that the series would remain dormant didn’t affect me as much until I actually played through every main game back-to-back, as well as multiple times each. In a very timely coincidence, however, Konami would announce a full-on series revival in late 2022, which would include a new movie as well as multiple new video game projects. The official start of this revival would start with Silent Hill: The Short Message (TSM), a short experimental concept game that received a surprise release after Sony’s State of Play on January 31, 2024, the 25th anniversary of the original Silent Hill’s release (according to Konami, at least). Naturally, as someone excited at the prospect of more Silent Hill content, I downloaded TSM the instant I learned of its surprise release and played through it shortly after. While it’s not a perfect experience, and not as good as some of the series’ highs, TSM still felt like a step in the right direction and gave me confidence about the future of the revival.

Ernest & Celestine: A Trip to Gibberitia

Gabrielle Vincent’s Ernest & Celestine books may be harder to come by now, but when I finally watched the 2012 animated adaptation, which got an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature, years after it came out, I liked it enough to track down a former library copy of the first book due to a lack of modern availability. 10 years later, this film would receive a proper sequel, subtitled A Trip to Gibberitia, the idea of which had me excited. Although I had known about it for a while, I somehow missed its limited US theatrical run, but I would finally get to see it when GKIDS listed an English US Blu-ray release, and found to be just as enjoyable as the first film.