GUILLERMO DEL TORO'S HOME SPARED FROM L.A. FIRESTORM

This one's gonna be personal, folks, and I'm hoping that writing about it will help purge my angst -- at least that's what's commonly said to do. The fact that I haven't posted one of these regular Sunday features makes it all the more grim.

I have been watching for the past few days some of the best memories of my life go up in flames. As regular readers may remember, I spent half of my life in the Los Angeles area before moving to the Pacific Northwest. Until then, L.A. and its environs was not only the place where I grew up, it was my playground.

There was never any shortage of things to do as a kid: movie theaters were plentiful and places like Disneyland (when they still used ticket books) and Knott's Berry Farm (when it was free) were highlights. As I grew older, I spent a LOT of the time at the beach, mainly Malibu and Zuma, and Pacific Coast Highway could take you anywhere you wanted on the coast. I caught my last fish while in California -- a halibut off the Malibu Pier and hit on my first girls at Zuma. When I got my own car, there were frequent trips to Hollywood where there were more theaters than you could count, a multitude of eateries (Love's Pit BBQ was a favorite), and numerous cinema bookshops with the occasional backroom comic shop before there were any storefronts dedicated to them.

But when I looked at the live feeds of the apocalyptic devastation in those same beach areas that I grew up in, not only my heart, but my soul sank. Sure, the beaches are still there and the ocean still brings the tide in and out, but the houses where I knew people and partied with were now nothing but charred ruins.

What's left of a familiar strip of Pacific Coast Highway.

Then I heard of the Kenneth Fire in the west end of the San Fernando Valley and couldn't believe when I heard that the street that I used to live on as a teenager was closed and the fire was torching a park where my pals and I played ball and I would walk my dog (I'd turn her loose and she'd run away yapping and disappear for an hour chasing rabbits . . . right in the same spot where the fire now burned). My old high school is barely a mile from there and I learned they were using it for a relief center for victims of the Calabassas Fire a little further down the road.

Then, I found asking myself: "Why am I getting so rattled about this?" I don't live there anymore and haven't for years and it's been near a decade since I've been back. After thinking a few moments, I realized that all those places are a visual representation of my early life, and, although I had no tangible or material investment in them anymore except in my memory, they remain indelible symbols of that halcyon time, and when you see those images being wiped away by hellfire it's a damned shocking and humbling experience.

Fortunately, everyone I still know there is safe and mainly unaffected, so there's a lot to be thankful for despite knowing that many more have been left homeless with virtually no material possessions to call their own. Again, fortunately there have been a few miracles against this tragic background of what is sure to impact the residents who called these areas home for years to come.

On a less gloomy note, horror fans will be happy to hear that, as of this writing, Guillermo Del Toro's "man cave" has been spared thus far from the destruction that has caused the loss of so many others' homes. Del Toro moved his monster memorabilia into what he named "Bleak House" after his wife complained of too many gruesome images adorning the walls and furniture.

Guillermo del Toro Says Bleak House Spared by L.A. Fires

The Oscar-winning filmmaker said he toured his Los Angeles creative man cave Friday and rescued hundreds of objects from his private collection of curiosities and ghoulish props.

By Etan VLessing | January 10, 2025 | TheHollywoodReporter.com

Guillermo del Toro says his Los Angeles-area Bleak House — filled with creatures, curiosities and ghoulish props, paintings and costumes that he collected during his life — is safe so far amid the wildfires sweeping across southern California.

“Brief check in — Bleak House was so far, spared,” the Oscar-winning Shape of Water helmer said on Bluesky. “We hand carried over 100 pieces out of the collection. Many friends lost their homes. Helping them now. Will be absent here for a while. Stay safe.”

The director added he visited Bleak House to check on the property and thank first responders working to battle the blazes. “Stopping by to thank everyone helping, supporting or encouraging friends, neighbors or brave safety and firefighters out here and there… Back to it,” he added in a second Bluesky post.

Del Toro’s update comes as the death toll in the fires that are ravaging Los Angeles County this week has risen to 10 as firefighters struggling against high winds are hoping for a reprieve on the fourth day of seemingly unstoppable blazes that have destroyed entire neighborhoods and over 10,000 homes and buildings as residents flee for their lives. 

A number of objects from Bleak House were included in a 2016 LACMA exhibition, Guillermo del Toro: At Home With Monsters. 

The curiosities featured included a replica of the ghost of Santi from The Devil’s Backbone, complete with blood (red smoke) streaming from a head wound, an immense head of Frankenstein’s monster looming over a walkway and the comic books that inspired del Toro’s Hellboy films.

“This is a religious place for me. See, to me, everything that surrounds us is not a collection, it’s relics. It’s relics or it’s talismans. Whatever you want to call them, they have a spiritual hold of who I am essentially,” del Toro said in a 2016 LAist story about Bleak House and his personal collection.

Bleak House is separate from another Los Angeles family home del Toro has, as his private collection had grown to the point his wife intervened when he hung a decidedly creepy Richard Corben painting too close to the kitchen. He recalled in the LAist story: “My wife says, ‘That’s too close to the kitchen, the kids are gonna be freaked out.’ And inside of me something cracked and I said, ‘I’m gonna get my own place.'” 

GUILLERMO DEL TORO'S FRANKENSTEIN

The last thing that this exceptional filmmaker did was Netflix's GUILLERMO DEL TORO'S CABINET OF CURIOSITIES in 2022. Personally, I thought the eight stories in the anthologies series were a tad uneven, but it was the handful of real spine-tinglers that more than made up for it.

So, what has Mr. del Toro been up to lately? Oh, not much, just his adaptation of Mary Shelley's FRANKENSTEIN.

VANITY FAIR recently released an exclusive sneak peek at Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac) in his lab with his creation (Jacob Elordi) laid out behind him.

Reportedly, del Toro has spent a good long while on developing the story where Victor “tampers with the natural order by turning dead tissue into a new being”. Now in post-production, the film was shot in Aberdeen, Scotland.

“Gothic romance was born partially out of the fascination with ruins,” del Toro explained.  “Sometimes they’re more beautiful than the building complete because it’s the clash of creation and destruction.”

Scheduled for release in 2025, FRANKENSTEIN also stars Charles Dance, Burn Gorman, Ralph Ineson, David Bradley, Christan Convery, Lars Mikkelsen, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Lauren Collins, Felix Kammerer, Joachim Fjelstrup, Stuart Hughes, Roberto Campanella, Mark Wilkinson, and Jason Alan Staines.

GUILLERMO DEL TORO AND THE IMPORTANCE OF PHYSICAL MEDIA

All indications are that the DVD is headed the way of the Dodo in the next few years. Retailers have already begun to remove them from their shelves. I smell a rat.

While I am skeptical about conspiracies, this one has all the earmarks that the industry (aka "The Powers That Be") is making a sub rosa move to exert more control over consumers. In the end, I'm afraid that, after the smoke clears, physical media will have all but disappeared all we'll be left with is streaming. All your ability to view films and TV shows will then be in the hands of your "provider" and will only be as good as your router. I'm already seeing bandwith issues while watching Prime, Freevee and Tubi, with Netflix remaining more stable than the other three. This was not the case when, just a few years ago, everything loaded up quickly and streamed without the audio mismatched with the video, etc.

The reason for this is the same as it has been forever: money. I predict we'll all be caught by the short hairs and held hostage by huge corporations that are nothing short of predatory. It's all a stark reminder that, like driver's licenses, entertainment is a privilege and not a right. Corporations are doing their best to keep it that way.

If you like a movie well enough to buy it, opt for physical media instead of "owning" it from your streaming service.

In the meantime, here's Guillermo Del Toro offering a compelling argument for the advantage of physical media.

Guillermo Del Toro Raves About Physical Media & Says A Blu-Ray Buyer Is “The Custodian” Of Films For New Generations

By Charles Barfield | November 21, 2023 | theplaylist.net

Recently, it was announced that Best Buy was cutting out DVDs and Blu-rays from its physical stores. Gone are the days of wandering the aisles and searching for a cool movie to buy. The decline of physical film releases first began with the closing of video stores and the rise of streaming. But soon, it really does seem as if the idea of buying a Blu-ray will be looked at as if you’re buying some sort of novelty or collectible. But for folks like Guillermo del Toro, the people buying physical discs of films are doing an admirable thing, and they’re preserving films for generations who might miss out.

This whole discussion recently started because Christopher Nolan (the filmmaker obsessed with using physical film and practical effects in a digital age) brought up the idea that streaming films aren’t actually your property. No, we’re not just talking about films available on streaming services like Netflix, Prime Video, and Disney+. But the truth is (and many people don’t actually know this), when you buy a film on a digital service—you know, when you pay the $19.99 or whatever to “own” your copy of “The Flash” on Apple, Amazon, or wherever—you actually aren’t paying for the film. You’re buying the right to watch the movie on the digital service. And if, for some reason, Amazon, Apple, or wherever loses that license to show the movie, then even though you paid money, you will effectively lose that movie, as well. 

Basically, if DC Studios and Warner Bros. Discovery realizes “The Flash” is a dumpster fire and the film should be gone forever, it can make sure that it won’t be sold anymore and the people who “own” the film on a digital format could lose access to their film. Remember, you don’t “own” anything digital. So, if you’re worried about your precious “The Flash” disappearing and joining (way too many) other films which don’t have digital options and are out of print, you better buy the physical copy. At least, that’s what Guillermo del Toro wants you to do. 

“Physical media is almost a Fahrenheit 451 (where people memorized entire books and thus became the book they loved) level of responsibility,” del Toro posted on X/Twitter. “If you own a great 4K HD, Blu-ray, DVD etc etc of a film or films you love…  you are the custodian of those films for generations to come.”

To put all of my cards on the table, this is actually something I believe in as well. I am fortunate enough to get some discs mailed to me from the studios, but I still buy my favorite films when they are released on the current format. Not only is it great to know that I have the copy for posterity, but also, there is a real difference in watching a 4K UHD disc than watching a version that is streaming. The picture quality, the sound, everything is just better. So, I get it.

That said, is the world going to collapse and Apple will no longer give you access to your library of digital films? Not anytime soon, probably. But just remember, what you “own” digitally isn’t actually yours. And if you want to make GDT happy, you’ll buy physical from now on. 

DEL TORO GETS GREEN LIGHT FOR 'FRANKENSTEIN'

Acclaimed filmmaker Guillermo del Toro has waited for many years to film some of his projects, and more than one will probably never see the light of day. Thanks to the continuing surge of horror films, Netflix has agreed to back his version of FRANKENSTEIN. Judging from what we've seen so far with del Toro's work, we can hope that his vision stays true. If anybody can do it, he can.

Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Frankenstein’ Adds Christoph Waltz to Cast

By Meagan Navarro | October 6, 2023 | Collider.com

Guillermo del Toro is working on his own adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein for Netflix with an all-star cast. Collider reports today that del Toro confirms actor Christoph Waltz (Inglorious Basterds, Alita: Battle Angel) has joined the lineup.

The outlet reports that del Toro confirmed the casting news at the 10th-anniversary screening of Pacific Rim, where the filmmaker told audiences, “I’m doing Frankenstein. We’re working on it. We start shooting in February, and it’s a movie I have been wanting to do for 50 years since I saw the first Frankenstein. I had an epiphany, and it’s basically a movie that required a lot of growth and a lot of tools that I couldn’t have done 10 years ago. Now I’m brave or crazy enough or something, and we’re gonna tackle it. It’s Oscar Isaac, Andrew Garfield, Christoph Waltz, Mia Goth, and we’re working on it.”

“He’ll reunite with renowned composer and frequent collaborator Alexandre Desplat for the score and also produce with another usual partner of his Gary Ungar. With a team and cast coming together, everything is falling into place for the highly-anticipated project to begin filming in February,” Collider also reported.

Mia Goth (Pearl), Oscar Isaac (“Moon Knight”), and Andrew Garfield (The Amazing Spider-Man) were previously rumored to have joined this project back in March, though Netflix declined to comment or confirm the casting news.

The acclaimed filmmaker previously collaborated with Waltz on his stop-motion adaptation of Pinocchio, where Waltz voiced the evil showman Count Volupe.

Del Toro is writing and directing Frankenstein for Netflix, with his specific approach completely under wraps at this time. 

Guillermo del Toro won four Academy Awards for The Shape of Water in 2018, essentially giving his unique, romantic spin on the Creature from the Black Lagoon. With Frankenstein up next, he’s building his very own army of Universal Monsters. We’ll keep you posted as we learn more about the project.

DEL TORO'S HPL FILM TO BE ANIMATED?

Now that Guillermo del Toro's animated adaptation of Pinocchio has met with critical success, he is considering using the same format to resurrect a movie that he has wanted to produce for many years, H.P. Lovecraft's AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS. He has already had conversations with special effects master, Phil Tippett, to film it as a stop-motion, animated feature. The combination of these two would make for a fantastic adaptation of HPL's longest work.

Guillermo del Toro Plans to Adapt 'The Mountain of Madness' in Stop Motion

By Shrishty Mishra | December 1, 2022 | Collider.com

Thanks to Guillermo del Toro, fans have had their fill of horror stories this year. The acclaimed filmmaker did an eight-part anthology series, Cabinet of Curiosities for Netflix, which gave a new twist to spooky season and now fans have enjoyed his stop-motion animation feature, Pinocchio, in theaters which is a retelling of the classic kid's story with del Toro’s touch! But there’s one project the Academy Award-winning director has been eyeing making for a long time, an adaptation of HP Lovecraft’s The Mountain of Madness. In a new interview with IndieWire he hinted that it might finally come out as an animated feature.

The director conceived the idea sometime between making 2006’s Pan’s Labyrinth and 2015’s Crimson Peak, however, it was too ambitious for rigorous studio machinery to green light. Written in 1931 the classic Lovecraft tale follows a doomed exploration to Antarctica. It is told from the perspective of protagonist Dr. William Dyer and acts as a warning for others who may be interested in having their own adventure to the previously unseen continent. Throughout the story, we learn about larger-than-life monsters and a long-lost civilization that used to inhabit the snow-clad lands. All of them have vanished but for a collection of their sculptures and murals.

In the new interview, del Toro revealed that he spoke with VFX veteran Phil Tippett, the genius behind features like Mad God, the original Star Wars trilogy, Jurassic Park, and RoboCop. They discussed translating the director’s original pitch for The Mountain of Madness into a stop-motion production just like Pinocchio. “I said it would be ideal to do ‘Mountains of Madness’ as stop-motion,” del Toro said. Adding, “You watch the animation in a more rapturous way than live action. It’s almost a hypnotic act, and the relationship to the story becomes more intimate in that way.”

And this is a test clip from del Toro's earlier pitch for the film in CGI:

A VISIT WITH GUILLERMO DEL TORO

Forrest J Ackerman's long career with FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND magazine captured many a' Monster Kid's heart and soul. One of those is a certain well-known movie director who goes by the name of Guillermo Del Toro. Mr. Del Toro grew up enthralled by all sorts of monsters, and when he found that his drawing skills weren't up to his standard, he turned to filmmaking, attending film school in Mexico, and producing some of the most imaginative fantasy and horror movies to be seen on the modern screen, including his two installments of the popular comic book character, Hell Boy.

Tucked away in Westlake Village about an hour's drive north of Los Angeles, Del Toro owns not one, but two homes within minutes of each other. One is where he and his family live -- the other he calls his "office". And what an office it is -- a veritable monster museum with props from his films and other monster memorabilia crowd the halls and rooms, much like his idol's "Ackermansion". It is in this ambiance where he concocts and develops his ideas. With his Netflix horror anthology series and a just-released version of PINOCCHIO (complete with monsters, of course), Del Toro shows no signs of his creative well running dry.

This in-depth article from THE NEW YORKER magazine (February 7, 2011) provides insight on his life and career, as well as a guided tour of his office/museum.

DEL TORO'S 'CABINET': FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Do we need another horror anthology TV show? Yes! Especially if it comes from the imaginative mind of Guillermo del Toro. By the time you read this Netflix will have released all eight of the episodes of what promises to be an exceptional new series, CABINET OF CURIOSITIES.

I have watched the first few and they are all, in varying degrees, pretty damn well done. The first thing that struck me is how great the visuals are. Gorgeously filmed with interesting color palettes, as well as light and shadow all superlatively utilized. Second, the choice of stories are a pleasant surprise, with the first one, "Lot 36" penned by del Toro himself. Second is "Graveyard Rats", originally published in WEIRD TALES (March, 1936) by author, Henry Kuttner. The third is "The Autopsy", written by Micheal Shea. It is interesting to note that both Kuttner and Shea were involved with furthering the so-called "Cthulhu Mythos". Kuttner was a contemporary of H.P. Lovecraft and corresponded with him as well as wrote numerous tales of Lovecraftian "Cosmic Horror". Shea wrote his own tribute to Lovecraft in the novel, THE COLOR OUT OF TIME in 1984. Science fiction editor and author T.E.D. Kline compiled a list of "The 13 Most Terrifying Horror Stories" -- Shea's "The Autopsy" is number eleven.

If there was a weakest story out of the three, I'd have to say it was "Lot 36". Still an absorbing story, the acting was a bit overwrought for my taste. Kuttner's "Graveyard Rats" has to be the creepiest of the trio and "The Autopsy" was over-the-top gory that rivals some of the worst seen in the new film, TERRIFIER. That it starred the great F. Murray Abraham helped it immensely. And, man, the monsters in these are awesome, CGI'd or not.

All-in-all, I enjoyed these as much and in many ways more than all the other TV horror anthologies that have come before it, and I am looking forward to viewing the rest of the series, especially the Lovecraft adaptations.

Oh, and in case you are wondering what T.E.D. Kline's thirteen most terrifying horror stories are ...

THE 13 MOST TERRIFYING HORROR STORIES, Selected by T.E.D. Klein from THE TWILIGHT ZONE MAGAZINE (August, 1983)

1. Casting the Runes by M.R. James
2. The Novel of the Black Seal by Arthur Machen
3. The Willows by Algernon Blackwood
4. The Dunwich Horror by HPL
5. Bird of Prey by John Collier
6. Who Goes There? by Don A. Stuart (John W. Campbell) Antarctic horror, the genesis of The Thing.
7. They Bite by Anthony Boucher
8. Stay off the Moon! by Raymond F. Jones
9. Ottmar Balleau X 2 by George Bamber
10. First Anniversary by Richard Matheson
11. The Autopsy by Michael Shea
12. The Trick by Ramsey Campbell
13. To Build a Fire by Jack London

And a peek at a review of the Lovecraft story, "Pickman's Model", from Nerdist.com (spoilers ahead!):

CABINET OF CURIOSITIES OFFERS ONE OF THE BEST LOVECRAFT ADAPTATIONS OF ALL TIME

by Kyle Anderson | Oct 27 2022 | Nerdist.com

H.P. Lovecraft is a, shall we say, divisive literary figure. Largely a shut-in during his life, he harbored deep xenophobia and racist beliefs that couldn’t help but work their way into his writing. Because he was terrifying of everything, he pioneered a kind of all-encompassing horror that many, including me, find undeniably fascinating. Guillermo del Toro is a similar Lovecraft enthusiast and in his anthology series Cabinet of Curiosities, he’s given us two adaptations. While Catherine Hardwicke’s “Dreams in the Witch House” is a suitably macabre affair, it’s Keith Thomas’ “Pickman’s Model” that stood out the most. It is one of the very best Lovecraft adaptations I’ve ever seen.

The thing about Lovecraft and his fiction is that it’s easy to focus only on the giant tentacled monsters aspect. They’re giant and have tentacles; it’s easy to get distracted. But the crux of his version of horror is not that there are massive, incomprehensible monsters, it’s what knowing the truth would do to the puny human mind. What is the implication that hideous eldritch abominations lurk just outside of our field of perception? Knowledge isn’t power; it’s debilitating terror.

The episode—based on Lovecraft’s 1926 story of the same name—follows Thurber (Ben Barnes), a collegiate art student and well-to-do chap whose life and sanity find themselves on the rocks after meeting Richard Upton Pickman (Crispin Glover). Pickman is an artist of rare skill but whose works seemingly horrible nightmarish fantasy creatures and events. Macabre, gory, generally upsetting. To most in the realism-focused art world of the 1920s, the paintings are flights of dark fancy. To Thurber, they are profoundly upsetting.

Pickman recognizes Thurber’s keen eye and wishes for his “friend”‘s opinion. Pickman tells us that his many-times-great grandmother was a witch who died of hanging in Salem during the trials. His portrait of her “last supper” is particularly gruesome. Thurber then experiences terrible dreams and visions. From the very first time Thurber sees Pickman’s “stronger work,” it’s as though a veil lifts and he sees the darker aspects of the world. Thurber sees a man (whom he later learns is his fiancée’s father) in a carriage with a woman. The woman’s chest is covered in black veins while a mysterious gash bleeds from the back of the man’s head. Thurber can no longer pretend not to see the rot just underneath the pleasant surface of the world.

Years go by and Pickman turns about in Thurber’s life again. This time, Pickman is even more determined for Thurber to come see his new paintings. He even makes a surprise appearance at Thurber’s house, talking to his wife and son. Thurber, of course, knows Pickman’s art is cancerous, but little does he know how much. Eventually, Thurber goes to Pickman’s house and enters his cellar to find a well in the floor. From the well, the creatures Pickman painted actually appear. They signify a new dawning, Pickman says. They are his family. Pickman’s model is a real creature.

This revelation is one of Lovecraft’s best, up there with the endings of “The Outsider” and “The Rats in the Walls.” The horrible creatures aren’t imaginary. Pickman’s power as an artist is that he can perfectly depict reality, the rot and horror underneath the veneer of modernity. The more he hones his craft, the closer he gets to absolutely reality. Pickman thinks Thurber will understand, but obviously he does not. Or maybe he does too well. Either way, Thurber shoots Pickman.

This doesn’t end the horror, of course. The episode’s grand finale is that it continues on just a little bit more than the written story does. Thurber’s colleague has gone mad staring at Pickman’s art and, very soon after, so does Thurber’s wife. She gouges her own eyes out and cooks their son in the oven. It’s a truly disturbing final act, and proof that the art (in this case, depicting eldritch horrors beneath the surface) doesn’t die with the artist. Thurber could withstand this truth; others not so much.

It’s this that really makes this version of “Pickman’s Model” so powerful. The truth of these horrible creatures and their eventual rise is there, whether Pickman paints them or not. Unlike what G.I. Joe used to say, knowing is not half the battle. Knowing either brings madness or despair. Cosmic horror at its very finest.

HORROR, SCI-FI, AND SOCIAL COMMENTARY SCORE BIG AT THE OSCARS

I must first tell you that I haven't watched more than a few scant minutes of the Academy Awards in quite a few years. While I appreciate the Academy maintaining a tradition that gives those lucky enough to win one of its categories a pat on the back and a hunk of a gold-plated Britannia metal doorstop to remember it by, I view it largely as a collective, annual secular ritual of self-indulgence on a monstrous scale that has progressively (pun intended) become a platform for lopsided political views. Hey, if they want their festivities hijacked by a group of what's as close to a moral mafia as one can get that's their business, I guess. But the fact remains, this year's broadcast had the smallest TV viewing audience since 1974. That's the same year when audience data began to be recorded. So, what does that tell you? That Academy execs keep running into the same wall and expecting different results?

Frankly, I don't think they give a hoot. Take this acute observation for example: "The ceremonies are a two-hour (that right there should tell you how old this quote is) meat parade, a public display with contrived suspense for economic reasons." Could this have been said recently by somebody like say, Clint Eastwood? Nope. It was George C. Scott in 1970 (!) announcing in advance he wouldn't accept the Oscar if he won because the politics surrounding the Awards were "demeaning". Irony of ironies followed when, during the Best Actor segment of that year's Awards, presenter Goldie Hawn opened the envelope and squeaked: "Oh my God! The winner is George C. Scott!" The film's producer accepted the award on Mr. Scott's behalf. Scott was home at his farm in New York, no doubt, tending his animals.

Just a couple of years later, in 1972, the Apache/Yaqui/Pueblo/French/German/Dutch Sacheen Littlefeather stepped up to the podium on behalf of Marlon Brando's Oscar refusal and ranted on against Hollywood's treatment of American Indians (now more accurately referred to as "aboriginal Americans"). Littlefeather, nee Cruz, thought so much of how her ancestors were being exploited that she decided in a thoughtful retreat from reality to pose nude for the October, 1973 issue of PLAYBOY. Interestingly enough, you don't see that little factoid brought up in her WIKI bio. As for Brando, other than his role as Col. Kurtz in APOCALYPSE NOW in 1979, he was unbankable, continued to gain weight until he was obese at over 300 lbs., contracted Type 2 diabetes as a result, and was pretty much left to reminisce in obscurity in Tahiti about the good ol' days. Put that in your fact-checker and smoke it, people.

Which brings me to another topic that is so glaringly obvious about the Oscars and Hollywood in general, that it openly hides in plain sight. Unless you've been living under the proverbial rock, it's once again open season on gun control with the Tinseltown cognoscenti. This dried up social/political road kill has been trotted out and run over more times in recent years than I can count. Personally, I think that it is high time to you-know-what or get off the pot and make some changes (i.e. more stringent background checks) on not only assault-type weapons, but all guns that are sold, a more rigorous program to keep any type of gun out of the hands of the diagnosed mentally ill, and enforce the laws that are already on the books. And, oh yeah, raise the minimum purchase age to twenty-one.

The MeToo Movement was also out in force, although it appeared that the women were tired of wearing black and opted for their more traditional Oscar garish garb.

Perhaps the biggest hypocrisy of all is that a good many of these causes are based on the underlying theme of violence and bloodshed. So, while well-meaning but ignorant actors are railing about gun control, the use of guns in their films is out of control. There's no denying the road to Hollywood is paved in rivers of blood, but movies are still being cranked out that are awash in violence and gore. That includes horror films, but hey, that's to be expected, right?

Host Jimmy Kimmel paved the way for all of this with numerous statements that he made in his opening monologue. This is one of them: "So, if you do win an Oscar tonight, we want you to give a speech [hear that, Martin Landau?- MMW]. We want you to say whatever you feel needs to be said. Speak from the heart. We want passion. You have an opportunity and a platform to remind millions of people about important things like equal rights and equal treatment." With all his spiel about fairness and the wisdom that comes along with it, he still couldn't help himself by taking a few, unnecessary but unsurprising jabs at the political right and -- like a typical schoolyard bully -- took humorless potshots at people who were not there to defend themselves. Jeez, the Oscars are supposed to be the one time when everyone in the industry celebrates each other, not a roast for selected individuals who diverge from, or don't agree with, their "unified" message. Or, maybe not.

Despite the rank and churlish cloud of social commentary that hung over the 4-hour long, 90th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre, it was nevertheless pleasing to see that horror and science-fiction films came away with some big wins this year. Guillermo del Toro's THE SHAPE OF WATER wins Best Picture and he himself takes the Oscar for Best Director. It also took the award for Best Original Music Score and Best Production Design. Jordan Peele won for his screenplay of GET OUT, the racially-charged story masquerading as a horror film. BLADE RUNNER 2049 won Oscars for Best Cinematography and Best Visual Effects. Not a bad haul for one show. On a personal note, I was quite happy to see Gary "Dracula" Oldman win the Oscar for Best Actor, right after his Golden Globe take-home just a week or so before. Oldman is an ace of an actor and I don't ever think I have seen him walk through one of his roles. Kudos to Alison Janey, too. I've always liked her work.

So, what does the future hold for the Academy and, indeed, Oscar himself? I don't believe much will change. Actors will still be happy to tell the world about how things should be based upon their superior intellect and vast life experience, and traditions will still erode against the tide of activism. I also predict that, now that Hollywood has covered most of the social agenda, the "next big thing" down the pike will probably be something in the nature of sexual "liberation". Transgender-ism comes to mind. After all, THE SHAPE OF WATER is an unnatural (now called "outsider") love story at its core, and violation of the sexual norm can easily thrive within the inherent outre context of the horror, science-fiction and fantasy film.

Hollywood will remain polarized, as it has really always been. For years, actors and actresses with a different opinion have had to lurk silently in the shadows for fear of being ratted out and blacklisted in certain circles. It is amusing to see that the same, condescending and opinionated people are now being voraciously eaten by their own, and the survivors of this Hollywood zombie apocalypse are falling over themselves in a race to the media microphone to voice their horror and displeasure at the atrocities of their fair-weather fellow travelers. I wonder when the smoke finally clears, if will there be anyone left at all besides the drug-addled and homeless on the streets of Hollywood. But then they might be the next subject to be appropriated for exploitation.

If they weren't so intent on spending their purposely atheistic lives reading their next pile of scripts, they might pause and remember the instructive words of a certain Good Book from the dim distant past that warns against casting the first stone.

The reviews shown below are from the April 2018 issue of TOTAL FILM.

BONUS: A history of the Oscars from TOTAL FILM, April 2018.

INTERVIEW WITH GUILLERMO DEL TORO

"[The creature is] ultimately not seen as human, which is the ultimate disenfranchisement."                                     - Guillermo del Toro

In an interview in the January 2018 issue of the UK crypto/UFO/phenomena mag, FORTEAN TIMES, director and all-around monster fanboy Guillermo del Toro talks about his latest film, a "political fairy tale" entitled THE SHAPE OF WATER and monsters -- especially of the human kind -- in general. Critics are already calling this film about a cleaning woman in a research facility who falls in love with a strange and unidentified life-form, his best yet. But underneath the plot layer is something deeper than just human emotion. Mr. Del Toro explains...