Creepers Book 1 The Piano

 

Weeks ago I was in my local Dollar Tree trying to find snacks,with my trips to the coast I usually buy snacks at Dollar Tree to save cash,and I saw there was a pile of these fairly short kids horror books. Averaging 100 pages and costing $1.25 I took the chance and grabbed the 4 I found on the shelves.

Days maybe weeks later the bag they were in was sorta and I did some research. I had figured they were some kids horror books made recently thanks to the Goosebumps movies doing big money. 

Nope these were UK published originally in the 90s when Goosebumps was huge.

There's the UK cover.

Some Canadian company got the rights to the 29 or so of these books. And now is republishing them with new covers and they are sold at Dollar Tree for $1.25 each. Heard they get released in batches of 5 every few months. With 10 so far being out. And yes I have found all ten.

The Piano has a family who's daughter plays piano. They find a nice one for cheap while out one day and buy it. But this is a spooky piano. One that will just start playing one of two songs.

The piano and songs have a connection to  the mother. And one night when the parents are gone and a bad storm hits the piano's songs finally reveal their warning to the kids. To not move to a new home known as Treetops.

The next day the family is recovering from the storm and all that the night before and learn during the storm the new home they were considering in Treetops was hit and the owner crushed.

Sure this is written for kids 6 to 10. If I had been that age when these were out I would have read a few and then borrowed some King or Barker from my Uncle. 

Only paying a bit over a buck for it,this made for perfect "throne" reading. Yea I am one of those that likes to read while in the bathroom. The chapters being so short they are perfect for this.

From the bit of research I did on these books seems they are aimed at  a younger audience than the Goosebumps books. So maybe once I finish these 10 I should read a Goosebumps novel see how that reads to me. I didnt mind the TV show back in the day.

Creepers Book 1 The Piano gets a C-. 

IP Man 2

 

TITLE-IP Man 2 Legend of the Grandmaster

SOURCE-Well Go USA DVD

I had heard of the IP Man films. Then found 2 and 3 cheap on DVD. Thinking I paid 50 cents each. 

Needed something to watch after dinner tonight. Wanted some action and took a chance.

Almost 2 hours later I was looking on Ebay and Amazon for how much a DVD of the first IP Man film would cost me.

Ip Man,said Yip Man,is the guy who way later in his life taught a teen age Bruce Lee martial arts. And supposedly Ip Man's life was crazy.

Ip Man 2 is just a bare bones plot to string together 3 major fights.

Fight 1 is when Ip Man is wanting to join the local Martial Arts Society. So he can teach martial arts in the city. He fights a series of challengers. All while perched on top a table. With the final challenger being Sammo Huong. Great fight with some impressive stunts.

Fight 2 is Sammo Huong vs a boxer. Seems some I think Australian Boxer is in China and ends up challenging anyone. Sure Sammo has slowed down some. Still this fight was damn good.

Then the final fight IP Man vs Twister the boxer. Holy fuck. This was just pure action.

Maybe the story would have caught me more if I saw the first film. With this endding with a 7 year old Bruce Lee coming asking to be trained and being sent away I wonder if part 3 will be about IP Man training Lee?

Worth seeing for the 3 fights. 

IP Man 2 gets a B-.

Stormwatch Post Human Division Vol 1

 

So last month covered the 3rd tpb  in this run of Stormwatch. Stormwatch is an odd series for me. I got into it so so late. 

After the Authority took over the USA ,Stormwatch gets reformed. But this time funded by the USA.Less super powered members. But we still got Jackson King in charge.

Read this entire trade while waiting in a Ear Nose and Throat doc's waiting room. And was surprised at how dense this was for a comic from it's era. Yea you got splash pages. But then you would get page after page of multiple panels with piles of dialogue.

Art is good writing is good but with a catch. No clue how this would read to anyone that hasn't read at least all of Stormwatch vol 2 and at least the last 20 issues of Stormwatch vol 1. So this isn't a friendly to new readers TPB.

Oh and this TPB references a few times the Wildstorm vs ALIENS crossover. The TPB of that Crossover is LONG Out of print and the issues that make it up are not cheap.

Stormwatch's leader,Jackson King,is reforming the team. Using what super powers being they got left and the cream of the crop of the humans. And we get a surprise return from a few long thought dead members of Stormwatch.

If you have read and enjoyed previous Stormwatch vols Stormwatch PHD is worth tracking  down. I actually found the first 2 or 3 issues in the cheap bins and read 1 and 2 before getting these trades.

Stormwatch Post Human Division TPB 1 gets a B+

Madame Web

TITLE-Madame Web

SOURCE-Sony Blu Ray

So years back I heard Sony was wanting to make a Spiderman universe of films. Ok yea there is enough stuff there it can be done. First up was Venom. Sure that makes sense he is popular. Watched Venom and it was decent. Then we got Venom 2 which was ok and Morbius.... Morbius was worth the buck I paid for the DVD,still sealed,at the Pawn shop 3 months after it hit home video.

Saw Madame Web announced and wondered how this would work. The old blind lady in the wheelchair that sees the future?

Saw the trailer OK yea get it now she will lead a team of teenage Spider Women. Spotted the second Spider Woman and Aranya in the trailer.

It comes out does nothing. Plan was see it when it hits STARZ in June. Then found the above pictured Blu ray,with the digital code still working,at a local junkstore. For cheap.

Cassie Web has a birth that was complicated. She was gonna die not long after birth. Her mother knows of a rumored tribe of Spider people in Peru that might hhave a cure. Goes down there and gets bit by a magic spider not long before dying while giving birth.

Skip ahead 30 years Cassie is now a EMT on a rig with Ben ,Parker yes it is Uncle Ben. After dying for a minute when plunged in a wrecked car into the river she starts seeing flashes of the future. 

The three Spider Women? They are all teens that she has to protect. Cause the man that shot and kille Cassies mother has spider powers and knows that in the future the 3 Spider Women will kill him.

Cassie with her new found powers must keep the three women alive. And why in most of her dreams and future visions do we keep seeing a huge S?

Doesn't sound that bad. The acting is decent. The FX work is good. What hurts this so much is 15 or so minutes into the film we see the future where the 3 Spidey Females kill big evil dude. THis lasts 6 minutes tops. And we don't see them with their powers at all until the 4 minute flash forward right before the credits.

Yea the movie they marketed on HEY SEE THIS TEAM OF SPIDERTEENS. Barely has them. Even when they dont have their powers yet. Cause like the film is titled ,this  focuses on Madame Web.

The other thing keeping this from being better is the length. Yea I know few know most of the main characters. When I first watched it 2 of the  4 in the room got who Ben Parker is. Still no need to be 2 hours long.

Oh and btw this being set in 2003 NYC and having Ben Parker as a 30 year old we still have  a cameo from Spiderman.

The Blu Ray looks great sounds good. Has more than a few extras,that I haven't watched yet. Not worth the still 20 bucks they want for this. But it is better than Morbius an if you findd it cheap take a chance.

Madame Web gets a C+