Deviously Dark, "The Black Phone."

A paranormal parade into savage reality and sheer fantasy displays itself nefariously well in the "Black Phone."  

The graphic violence in this flick is minimal, aside from an axe to the head. The above picture is an actual still from this horror gem, and yes, shot in eight or 16mm. Only very brief segments laden throughout the film appear this way. The rest of the film is shot extremely clear, and the terror was mostly cerebral.  

A child who sees the torture of other children in her dreams becomes a true asset to the police in her brothers kidnapping. The children were the focal actors throughout the film, even more so than Ethan Hawk. 

Mason Thames, Miguel Cazarez Mora, Tristan Pravong and Madeleine McGraw, pictured, held their own and brought the story to life.

Ethan Hawk epitomizes evil too well in some scenes, and that's why he's Hawk. a real icon in the world of actors.

Thames is Finny, the last child kidnapped in a small town, and the spirts of other murdered middle-schoolers come to his aide via the black phone, or do they? 

I simply liked "The Black Phone," it was dark and disturbing, yet conveyed cleverly to the masses. 

Mark Izzy Schurr    

 

Serve None, but the Conscience Within

Enduring the cold airless vacuums of space amidst the infinite cosmos and yearning to see beyond the veil of knowledge. thus began the tale of the Silver Surfer. (Stan Lee / Mark Izzy Schurr)    

"Origins," is an easy 208 page read that has embedded itself into my imagination. The Siver Surfer, aka, Chrome Dome rides the waves of infinity on his indestructible board which obeys his mental commands. As we all know from our comic book reading, Glactus granted the Surfman all his powers, and the rest is a mind journey into the chaos of reality and fantasy. 

John Buscema's artwork weaved marvelously into Stan Lee's words in this 2007 release. 

Earth, a world of madness, where reason is shunned, and violence prevails, no longer shall the Silver Surfer be part of man's insanity. Let humanity do what it will. Worlds without limits await my coming. I shall be true to my trust. While infinity beckons, I must leave behind my very heart, Shalla-Bal. Never has there been, never will there be another such as her. 

"I have seen the birth of planets and the death of worlds. Galaxies crumble and new suns aborning, yet in every star and every sun, I see her face," the Silver Surfer said.

The tangible emotions of love and the wanton wonders of youth are cosmically displayed on "Part Two Duel in the Depths" 

Time is long and fate is fickle. My destiny lies before me, and where it beckons, there shall soar the Silver Surfer. (Stan Lee) 

The mystic vapers of imaginations runs rampant in "Ogrins." Infinity and oblivion collide with the savage and sensational emotions of humanity within these pages of the Silver Surfer. 

Mark Izzy Schurr     

Chaos Weaving into Fantasy and Reality

The moment is mine, the power is mine, the majesty is mine, Galactus said. 

In an instant, a new region sprung into action, when Galactus showed himself to the human race. 

Galactus is neither good, nor evil, yet he must pulverize entire planets in order to survive. He's taller than many metropolitan skyscrapers, shorter than others. He's the only known entity in the universe that existed before the Big Bang, and that's just the beginning of who he is. 

The Silver Surfer was spawned to the masses in 1966 and created by Jack Kirby. Cutting to the case of all the details, the Silver Surfer on several occasions has stopped Galactus from pulverizing the entire Earth with his wits. 

Despite the power to implode every cell in Spider Man and other superheroes with a mere thought, the Silver Surfer's sheer might is nothing compared to Galactus, who gifted the Silver Surfer, aka Chrome Dome with his powers.

"Parable" is a short two part comic book written by Stan Lee and Keith Pollard in 2012. The obvious is clear from the very beginning. I knew Galactus wasn't going to transform Earth into mere space dust, but I had to know exactly how the Surfman was going to stop him this time. 

In "Parable," Galactus presents himself to the world, and when a high profile evangelist, Colton, convivences his followers he himself summoned Galactus to save our souls, its January 6 across the globe.  

 "If you would be saved, do what you will, take what you will. There is no wrong, there is no sin, pleasure is all," Galactus said. 

Galactus is blindly followed by the masses, and violence and destruction becomes the norm in "Parable."   

 "The sound of riots and mayhem disturbs my slumber, I feel no surprise, I have seen much of man's insanity," the Silver Surfer said. 

Many moons earlier, Galactus had made a truce with Chrome Dome to not destroy the Earth. 

"Who can know when reality ends and legend begins? Do we not see with our hearts and minds, as well as our eyes? Galactus plays god, having pledged not to slay the Earth by force, but by guile, the Silver Surfer said. 

The Surfman's poetic prowess embraced my senses almost every time he spoke in "Parable." Only those who believe blindly can be controlled like puppets as they enslave their minds to madness, because they thirst for leadership like a baby craves mothers milk. What has made them desperate to have others show them the way?   

The citizens of the world cease their worship of Galactus and turn to Chrome Dome for divine guidance. The Silver Surfer leaves the Earth once again, and hopes people realize the truest faith is faith in oneself. 

I have known the heady exaltation of victory and the gnawing pain of defeat, but I shall never cease my search for an oasis of sanity in this desert of madness that men call Earth. (Silver Surfer, "Parable," 2012) 

Four stars easy for "Parable" 1 and 2. 

Mark Izzy Schurr 

Injustices of WW II, Another Modern Moron Book Review

Loyalty hearings conducted by the Alien Enemy Control Unit, began for Japanese Americans on Dec, 7, 1941, and they were asked;

"Will you swear unqualified allegiance to the U.S. and faithfully defend the U.S. from any and all attacks foreign and domestic and forswear any form of allegiance or obedience to the Japanese emperor or any other foreign government power or organization?" 

INSTUCTIONS TO ALL PERSONS OF JAPANESE ANCESTRY; No Japs out after 8 p.m. No Japs allowed to travel more than five miles from their homes. These words were laden throughout all of America during the devious debacle of World War II. 

Julie Otsuka's 2003 book, "When the Emperor Was Divine," details the sinister reality about WW II on American soil, beginning on Dec. 7, 1941. Otsuka's book is the story of a Japanese American couple and their two young children during this period. 

Otsuka sagaciously gets to the point from beginning to end, without using a single name. On December's dark day in 1941, a Japanese father was arrested simply for being Japanese. Four days after his arrest, his wife and two young children had zero contact with him. By the 5th day, the husband and spouse were allowed to comminate extremely moderately via telegram. 

Prior to that dark day in December, the couple had been living together for 20 years in America as U.S. citizens. The woman and her children were forced to leave their house with only what they could carry, and report to the Civil Control Station. The CCS, upon their arrival, put them on a train to Utah. For the next 41 months, the husband and wife were severed of their joy together.    

The womans daughter was 11-years-old, and her boy was years younger then his sibling, and the three lived in a small room with a single light bulb, a wooden crate, used as a table, three iron cots and a pot bellied stove with no running water, and the bathroom was a block away. The three also had their Zenith radio they brought with them. 

The crystalline intensity of a single family is magnified for all readers in, "When the Emperor was Divine." 

The boy was very young; "I predge arrgiance to the frag, the little Japanese boy chanted against his will. Solly, so so solly, Otsuka translated. The woman and her children lived in their house till the fall of 1942, before the CCS sent them to a Japanese jail in Utah. 

During their 41 months, imprisoned in the desert, they had bamboo splinters shoved in their fingernails, and they were forced to kneel for hours at time. They witnessed other prisoners starve to death, and others doused with gasoline and made into human torches. Sometimes they were ordered to stand at attention and beaten. 

If you want more invidious details, read the book, it's a quick easy read, written in large font, and it's less than 260 pages, thus making it a swift and convenient read for all ages. The harsh reality of unwarranted fear and hatred is brilliantly documented by Otsuka in "When the Emperor was Divine." Despite the books horrid details, there is no profanity, and its appropriate reading for mature young children.  

Four and a half stars easy for this book I acquired at a Sonoma county library. 

Mark Izzy Schurr 

   

     

            

 

Zombies

Zombies are real, but they don't bite. Their classless and unfriendly, and no matter how many encounters you have with them, they never laugh or smile.        

Hell's kitchen serves a buffet of unwarranted hate, spawning day after day. Stone cold faces in too many places. 

It's great to be alone, away from their unwelcoming presence. Time to start another book.                                                          

Mark Izzy Schurr.                                                  

Yellow roses, Schurr Shot in the front yard with my Samsung phone camera. attachment. 

Bee Positive II

No AKs and sunny days, flowers and fresh garden food. Natures bliss amidst the beauty of the beaches. Imagination is my reality. Behind the camera or behind a book is the caress of dreams, or so it seems. 

Words and pictures, Schurr Shot, using my Sony cyber shot 50x zoom camera including the below picture of myself using the cameras timer, and yes, I did read 1927s "Propaganda."  

Mark Izzy Schurr  

  

 

One Life, One Bullet, Lets Rock 'n' Roll, Another Modern Moron Book Review

We fill the Earth with soulless cities and pollute ourselves with mindless music, and the erosion of our personalities feeds into the abyss of modern materialism. (Grady Hendrix / myself) 

Suicide, sex, mass murder, drugs and alcohol are just some of the baleful elements ejaculating from the fame starved heart of Terry Hunt, the former singer of the heavy metal band, Durt Wurk. 

"We Sold Our Souls," written by Grady Hendrix in 2018 was a book bequeathed to me from my sister Linda, and it didn't disappoint. Hendrix has a catchy writing style with solid story telling. It was like watching a movie as I read. 

In my dark place where blood churns, pain burns, iron rain falling on the bodies of the slain trapped inside a coffin of my pain. (Grady Hendrix, 2018)  

The band Durt Wurk got its name from their lead singer, Terry Hunt's weird uncle Mark who is a grave digger. and yes, uncle Mark is referred to as "weird uncle Mark" in "We Sold Our Souls," which still summons laughter to myself. 

The story is gripping, and not just some predicable tale of young musicians who start out as a basement band, and then sell their infinite souls to the Dark Lord of the universe for fame and fortune. Tinges of Devil worship exists in "We Sold Our Souls," but it's very brief.  

Kris Pulaski, while still in high school is the driving force of Durt Wurk, she sings, plays guitar and writes the bulk of their music. Terry is the one who sells his soul, and rids himself of all the other band members, including Kris, and seizes credit for all of the music and lyrics she wrote via vicious loopholes in the legal system and powers without form. Terry thus becomes the lead singer for Blind King, and later, Koffin, which rockets to fame, while Kris and her other band mates get caught in the ticking time clocks of works gilded cage. 

Without giving away too much, supernatural powers are granted to Terry, and he's able to get into the head of Scottie, a former Durt Wurk band mate. Scottie kills his wife and their two children and then himself because of nefarious forces Terry is able to awaken and insert into the core of Scotties mind.

JD Davis, former Drummer for Durt Wurk and Kris decide to combat Terry, and head to Las Vegas, where Terry's band, Koffin is the head lining act, even over the mighty real band, Slayer. JD and Kris rid themselves of their cell phones and are forced to take back roads to Vegas as they travel in JD's van in order to avoid invisible evil forces Terry is in tune with. 

Before teaming up with JD, Kris is forced to trek through a heinous cave in the heart of Black Iron Mountain, and the globalist elite mind control assassins. To save tens of thousands of lives, if not billions, Kris must make her way through a cave in which the ground is a seething surface of black bugs, jagged rocks and she's knee deep in bat feces. 

Tens of thousands of concert goers at the Vegas Koffin show are willingly attending their own slaughter without even knowing, and it's up to Kris and JD to save their souls. Yes, this seems cheesy to me as I'm writing the plot summary, but Hendrix has many surprises, and a very unpredictable outcome with some tense moments. 

Four stars easy for the book, "We Sold Our Souls."

Mark Izzy Schurr