DAILY CALL SHEET: APRIL 30, 2018

Spookies (1986) Patchwork assemblage of two films isn't very coherent, but it does have farting muck monsters, so... points for that i guess. Simultaneously terrible and crazy likable. TIL: Nice to see even some evil wizards still believe in "till death do you part."

Your daily dose of culture courtesy of Scanners (1981) - "Our life is what our thoughts make it." - Marcus Aurelius

And lest we forget, it’s time for the Facebook…

10 Day Album Challenge

In no particular order, post 10 of your all time favorite albums, one per day. Choose music that really made an impact on you and is still something you listen to, even if only occasionally. Post the cover; no need to explain why you chose it.

Day 4 of 10 days.

DAILY CALL SHEET: APRIL 29, 2018

Savage Dawn (1985) A biker gang terrorizes George Kennedy and his fellow townies while Karen Black looks on. Lance Henriksen decides to put a stop to it all. B-Movie action done the 80s way. TIL: Does getting stabbed and shot for singing Amazing Grace count as martyrdom?

Your daily dose of culture courtesy of Four Flies on Grey Velvet (1971) - "What fills the eye fills the heart." - Irish Proverb

A few days ago I gave my brief initial take on Avengers: Infinity War. Now here’s Catholic Skywalker with a more detailed, but mostly spoiler free, review that I pretty much agree with, so I don’t have to do a longer one myself.

And finally, it’s time for the Facebook…

10 Day Album Challenge-

In no particular order, post 10 of your all time favorite albums, one per day. Choose music that really made an impact on you and is still something you listen to, even if only occasionally. Post the cover; no need to explain why you chose it.

Day 3 of 10 days.

DAILY CALL SHEET: APRIL 28, 2018

The Body Beneath (1970) Blue vampires in crayon colored costumes plot to force a relative to bear children to keep the family line going. Duller than that description deserves. TIL: Honoring toxic elders just means showing them respect. Carrying their demon seed is not required.

Your daily dose of culture courtesy of The Endless Summer (1966) - "You can't cross a sea by merely staring into the water." - Rabindranath Tagore

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And finally, since the purpose of those Daily Call Sheets is to share my social media posts with those who only read the blog, I may as well include one of those Facebook memes I’m having fun with on my regular Facebook feed.

The 10 Day Album Challenge

In no particular order, post 10 of your all time favorite albums, one per day. Choose music that really made an impact on you and is still something you listen to, even if only occasionally. Post the cover; no need to explain why you chose it.

I was tagged for this by Rob Silva. Unfortunately, most everyone I know has already been tagged as well, so I can't really nominate anyone. If you somehow haven't been tagged and want to play along, please do.

Day 1 of 10 days.

Day 2 of 10 days.

Remember, all my musician friends, there’s no need to explain.

DAILY CALL SHEET: APRIL 27, 2018

Eliminators (1986) A scientist, a robot, a ninja, a river rat, and a mandroid run afoul of rednecks and cavemen while looking for a time traveling mad doctor. 1980s drunk-writing at its finest. TIL: Uniting against a common enemy is fine; uniting behind a common creed is better.

Your daily dose of culture courtesy of Friday the 13th (1980) - "For the straying of the naive kills them, the smugness of fools destroys them." - Proverbs 1:32

DAILY CALL SHEET: APRIL 26, 2018

Evil Laugh (1986) Chocolate covered Joey from F13 Part 5 directs Scott Baio's brother in a film that tries (TRIES) to be self-aware like Scream before Scream even existed. TIL: Lack of self-awareness makes us blame others for our faults. Who do the filmmakers blame for this mess?

Your daily dose of culture courtesy of Encounters of the Spooky Kind II (1989) - "One loyal friend is worth ten thousand relatives." – Euripides

As I headed off to see Avengers: Infinity War, I couldn’t help but recall the first issue of Avengers I ever bought. I was nine or ten. Yeah, I've got some history with these guys. I can't believe I've lived to see a day where every character on this cover has been in a movie/TV series. (The lady in the center is Patsy [Trish] Walker for all you non-comic reading Jessica Jones fans out there.)

Now, as for Avengers: Infinity War, maybe I'll put up a longer review of at some point, but for now I'll just say it's a gut punch. Any JPII fans out there will instantly recognize Thanos as the embodiment of the self righteous culture of death. Wonder if Marvel realized that as they were making it?

DAILY CALL SHEET: APRIL 25, 2018

Street Trash (1987) Tainted hooch sold to the homeless for a buck melts anyone who drinks it. Cult fave covers its social commentary under layers of ooze and vulgarity. TIL: Pretty sure "For I was hungry and you gave me toxic waste." is not how the Bible verse goes.

Your daily dose of culture courtesy of Angels Hard As They Come (1971) - "Anybody can jump a motorcycle. The trouble begins when you try to land it." - Evel Knievel

DAILY CALL SHEET: APRIL 24, 2018

The Quiet Earth (1982) Last three people on Earth form a love triangle while trying to discover where everyone else went. The Kiwi's come through again with thoughtful Sci-Fi. TIL: The chief punishment of hell is eternal separation from God, which means it's a very lonely place.

Your daily dose of culture courtesy of Tough Ninja The Shadow Warrior (1986) - "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win." - Mahatma Gandhi

DAILY CALL SHEET: APRIL 22, 2018

The Spider Labyrinth (1988) Valiant attempt to mix Argento and Lovecraft never makes much sense, but definitely piles on the weird as only the Italians can. TIL: False gods always promise sex, money and/or power. Says more about us than it does them.

Your daily dose of culture courtesy of Cheerleader Camp (1988) - "The one who merely flees is not yet free. In fleeing he is still conditioned by that from which he flees." - Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

DAILY CALL SHEET: APRIL 21, 2018

Abby (1974) Low rent Blaxploitation take on The Exorcist with Blacula himself as the preacher putting the smackdown on an African sex devil. TIL: Oddly enough, despite all his faults, Satan is no bigot. He'll drag anyone to Hell, regardless of color, creed, or sexual preference.

Your daily dose of culture courtesy of The Headless Ghost (1959) - "A sharp tongue will cut off its own head." - Iranian Proverb

DAILY CALL SHEET: APRIL 20, 2018

Land of the Minotaur (1976)  No actual minotaurs, but Donald Pleasence as a priest and Peter Cushing as a kooky cultist almost make up for it. Brian Eno does the score!?! TIL: Apparently priests dislike bad driving almost as much as they do the devil, so mind your road etiquette.

Your daily dose of culture courtesy of Women's Prison Massacre (1983) - "Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is." - C. S. Lewis

And finally, since I’ve been playing a lot of Call of Duty: WWII with my son, this story from the BBC caught my eye. Sister Agnès-Marie Valois, an Augustinian nun who earned the nickname The Angel of Dieppe (as well as a few medals) for her care for the wounded on the beaches of France, has passed away at the age of 103. Nuns are cool. Grant your daughter eternal rest, O Lord, and may your light shine on her forever.

DAILY CALL SHEET: APRIL 19, 2018

Hell Night (1981) Linda Blair and buddies must hang out in a supposedly abandoned mansion as part of pledge week. Spoiler: it's not abandoned. Slashing and plot holes ensue. TIL: The Church frowns on any hazing designed to hurt, humiliate, or otherwise harm human dignity.

Your daily dose of culture courtesy of Count Dracula's Great Love (1973) - "It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere." - Voltaire

DAILY CALL SHEET: APRIL 18, 2018

The Nesting (1981) Dead hookers harass an agoraphobic author after she moves into their old brothel. She also has writer's block, so it sucks to be her. Not great, but unjustly forgotten. TIL: Prostitution does injury to the dignity of the person who engages in it or pays for it.

Your daily dose of culture courtesy of Rock 'n' Roll High School (1979) - “Tell me and I forget.  Teach me and I remember.  Involve me and I learn.” - Benjamin Franklin

DAILY CALL SHEET: APRIL 17, 2018

Xtro (1982) Missing dad, misanthropic alien, or both? Any movie featuring a woman giving birth to a full-grown man is going to have questions. Gross and senseless, but memorable. TIL: Humans have an inherent desire for father figures. Wonder where that comes from?

Your daily dose of culture courtesy of Mars Attacks (1996) - “It’s better to walk alone than with a crowd going in the wrong direction.” Gandhi

DAILY CALL SHEET: APRIL 16, 2018

Q (1982) Quirky Michael Moriarty performance highlights Larry Cohen's tale of an Aztec lizard god using the rooftops of NYC as a buffet. TIL: Quetzalcoatl was a god of intelligence and self-reflection. He turned out to be a dud deity, but those qualities are still desirable.

Your daily dose of culture courtesy of Night Gallery (1969) - "We think we make the picture hang straight on our wall by telling our neighbors that all his pictures are crooked." - Fulton J. Sheen

DAILY CALL SHEET: APRIL 15, 2018

Race with the Devil (1975) Pursued by a satanic sect, two couples go on the lam. Unfortunately, most everyone they meet on the road is a cultist. TIL: Actually, the vast majority of Satanists aren't any worse than anyone else, much less maniacal killers. They're just wrong :)

Your daily dose of culture courtesy of Night Train to Terror (1985) - “Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” - Will Rogers

DAILY CALL SHEET: APRIL 14, 2018

Thor the Conqueror (1983) Director Tonino Ricci strikes out again with this strong competitor for worst ever Conan ripoff. Goes for realism, achieves boredom and misogyny. TIL: Tell me again why Christendom displacing pagan cultures was a bad thing?

Your daily dose of culture courtesy of Dinosaurus! (1960) - “Here be dragons to be slain, here be rich rewards to gain; If we perish in the seeking, why, how small a thing is death!” - Dorothy L. Sayers

DAILY CALL SHEET: APRIL 13, 2018

The Nest (1988) Mutant roaches munch on anything made of meat and morph into hybrids of their meals. Cat-roach anyone? Not for katsaridaphobes. TIL: Like everything, roaches have an end purpose. That doesn't include crawling on my food, however, so it's not immoral to stomp them.

Your daily dose of culture courtesy of Revolt of the Zombies (1936) - "Despair is the only genuine atheism." - Jean Paul

DAILY CALL SHEET: APRIL 12, 2018

Nightwing  (1979) Big bats complicate tribal politics on a reservation while Nick Mancuso trips on peyote and David Warner tries not to drown in a pool of guano. TIL: The 1537 encyclical Sublimis Deus forbid the enslavement of America's indigenous peoples. Not everybody listened.

Your daily dose of culture courtesy of The Bat People (1974) - "For as the eyes of bats are to the blaze of day, so is the reason in our soul to the things which are by nature most evident of all." – Aristotle

And finally, what the heck, since we’re going all batty here today, here’s an old Pulp Catholicism cartoon I did years ago. Boy, those early ones were talky, weren’t they?

DAILY CALL SHEET: APRIL 11, 2018

Doctor X (1932) Lunar lunacy, cannibals and synthetic flesh. Ah, the 1930s. Come for the Fay Wray, stay for the crazy sets and experimental two-strip Technicolor. TIL: There's no proof the full moon affects behavior, so whatever you do on those nights still counts in confession.

Your daily dose of culture courtesy of Starship Invasions (1977) - "It is not technology which determines whether or not communication is authentic, but rather the human heart and our capacity to use wisely the means at our disposal." - Pope Francis

DAILY CALL SHEET: APRIL 10, 2018

Creature (1985) Evil corporation sends crew to investigate weird egg on an abandoned spaceship? Yep, it's an Alien ripoff. Klaus Kinski competes with the monster for creepiest character. Kinski wins. TIL: On the right day, even corporate slimeballs have a reachable conscience.

Your daily dose of culture courtesy of Legend (1985) - “If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.” - Albert Einstein

And finally, Bishop Robert Barron has watched the new horror hit A Quiet Place and declared it “The Most Unexpectedly Religious Film of the Year." His review is full of spoilers, but worth the read if you don't care.

DAILY CALL SHEET: APRIL 9, 2018

The Search for General Tso (2014) Completely unnecessary but utterly appealing documentary on the origin of everyone's favorite fake Chinese food. Will make you hungry. TIL: Tso's is good, but it's no supernatural food that offers spiritual healing, comfort, and nourishment.

Your daily dose of culture courtesy of Conquest (1983) - "Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance." - James 1:2-3

And finally, something that’s been bugging me. I've seen the 'bestiality' charge come up a few times regarding The Shape of Water lately. Frankly, I'm just too tired to deal with that right now. Luckily, TheoFantastique is on the case.