Tag Archives: Julie Lynn Hayes

Wednesday Briefs: February 22, 2023

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Here is a list of all the authors flashing this week, along with a brief snippet from their latest free work. Click the link after the snippet to be taken to the complete story on the author’s home page.

Bad Karma and the Family Plan #62 (13.1) by Julie Lynn Hayes

Once the process server had put us in her rearview mirror and gone on her merry way, Joey sat looking rather stupidly at the documents in his hand in what I imagine was stunned disbelief. Nobody said anything. Probably because nobody wanted to kick a man when he was down. At least we had some kind of explanation for Heather’s disappearance. Nothing sinister, or even really surprising. She’d left his dumb ass and filed for divorce. Who could blame her? Although I still suspected that the minister’s new leaf he’d so recently turned had something to do with that too.

Moments later, the parents returned and took their seats at the table once more.

“Who was that lady I saw standing here?” Joseph Senior asked. “She didn’t stay

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Saturday is Horror Day #101 – Haunt, Frankenhooker

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Reviewer: Julie Lynn Hayes

Haunt

It’s Halloween night and a group of friends are bored and not in the mood for the usual Halloween tricks or treats. When they happen upon a flier for an “extreme” haunted house, they decide to check it out. But they quickly discover that some nightmares are for real…

This film is by the writers of A Quiet Place, and while it may not be a great film, it’s a pretty good horror film, and will keep you guessing as to what is going on. This may even put you off of going to haunted houses, as it becomes hard to distinguish between what is staged and what is real. High gore factor as well as hitting on common phobias, such as spiders and confined spaces. All in all a satisfying watch. Also, it was produced by Eli Roth of Hostel fame. I’ll give this film 4 Stars.

Frankenhooker

Jeffrey (James Lorinz) is a bit… unusual. A wannabe doctor/inventor, who dreams of the great contributions he’ll make to help mankind. But when his fiancé Elizabeth is killed in a tragic lawn mower accident, he realizes he must do something to keep her alive. He steals her head and vows to rebuild her body. But how? Of course! He must come up with new female parts, so he decides to shop for them among the hookers!

Armed with a lot of money and drugs and little common sense, Jeffrey becomes involved a group of

hookers who work for Zorro (Joseph Gonzalez). When Jeffrey realizes he can’t go through with his plan, the hookers discover the drugs he has brought and ingest them, and chaos ensues. What else can he do but go through with his original plan? Although maybe the result isn’t quite what he envisioned.

This was one hysterically funny and campy horror movie! From the same guys who brought us Basket Case, no less, it’s an homage to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, as well as low budget gory horror films of the 50s and 60s. It is simply hilarious from start to finish, from the lawn mower accident to the ending. Jeffrey finds relief from stress by inserting a drill into his brain. Also, look for a cameo by Louise Lasser (of Mary Hartman fame, and ex wife of Woody Allen) as Jeffrey’s mother. I had no idea how good this film was or I would have watched it soon.

The acting is spot on, writing is great, lots of gore and lots of laughs. Definitely a fun time. I’ll give this film 4.5 Stars.

Wednesday Briefs: February 15, 2023

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Here is a list of all the authors flashing this week, along with a brief snippet from their latest free work. Click the link after the snippet to be taken to the complete story on the author’s home page.

Bad Karma and the Family Plan #61 (12.6) by Julie Lynn Hayes

Troy was, not surprisingly, the center of attention at our table. Not that he did anything to hog the spotlight, but there was just something so naturally attractive, so very charismatic about him, that drew people to him, like moths to a flame. It didn’t hurt that he was good at speaking to people, not to mention he was a great storyteller.  But he was also sweet and sincere and he had a great heart. Ethan and I were proud to call him our friend. We loved him and Brendan too.

Despite all of charms, Troy was considerate. He made sure to show a genuine interest in other people and had a knack for making those around him feel good. Unfortunately, we may have forgotten to warn him about Ethan’s brother and what a miserable

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Film Review: Ip Man 3

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Reviewer: Julie Lynn Hayes

Ip Man 3

In 1959 British Hong Kong, Ip Man (Donnie Yen) lives a quiet life with his wife Cheung Wing-sing (Lynn Xiong) and his younger son Ah Ching (Xiao Long Li). Ah Ching gets into trouble with another boy in his class and both parents are called to the school. There Ip Man meets Cheung Tin-Chi (Jin Zhang), who also practices the Wing Chun style of kung Fu. He is struggling as a single parent, and makes a living pulling a rickshaw, but his dream is to have his own martial arts school. However, he can’t afford the rent. The boys reconcile and the fathers become friends.

Trouble comes in the form of a rich businessman, Frank (Mike Tyson) who desires to own the property the

school sits on and is willing to do whatever he can to get it, including the use of force. He uses his thugs to terrorize the school, forcing Ip Man and his students to step in. While his wife understands what he is doing, she wishes he were at home more. And she hasn’t told him, but she isn’t feeling well, and fears something may be wrong.

Complicating matters, a jealous Tin-Chi has decided to make a name for himself by battling the other kung fu masters. He then challenges Ip Man to a fight… for the title of Grandmaster of Wing Chun. When Ip Man does not show up for the scheduled match, Tin-Chi declares himself Grandmaster. Meanwhile, matters at the school escalate, and some children are kidnapped in order to force a showdown with Ip Man

The third installment of the Ip Man series is just as good as the others. He and his family don’t live the opulent lifestyle they once did before the Japanese invasion, but they have a good life. Ip Man is well known and respected in the community. The film deals with respect, and family, and standing up for right is right. Tin-Chi is not a bad man, and he means well, and has to make choices between getting ahead and doing the right thing. I have to say that I found the addition of Mike Tyson jarring. First, he is no actor, and he speaks mostly in English with a few Mandarin phrases thrown in for good measure, but his slight lisp doesn’t help with the Mandarin. Secondly, he’s a boxer and his movements are powerful and seem rough when seen in juxtaposition with the graceful moves of Ip Man. The fight between Ip Man and Frank is inevitable, as is the outcome. Side note: Donnie Yen broke Tyson’s finger in that scene. The best fight in the film, among many good fights, is between Ip Man and Tin-chi. Also, there is a scene in an elevator between Ip Man and a Thai fighter  with poor Mrs IP trapped in the corner that is pretty good.

There is one more film in the series and I look forward to that. Also, there is another one with Tin-Chi called Master Z, and I’ll watch that too. I’ll give this film 4.5 Stars.

Saturday is Horror Day #100 – Smile, Silence of the Lambs

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Reviewer: Julie Lynn Hayes

I’d like to start by saying welcome to the 100th post of Saturday is Horror Day! Little did I know when I first began to write this weekly adventure into the horror genre that it would last this long, but here we are. My first review is for the movie Smile, but I am going to look for something I like better before I post this for a second review. Thanks for taking the journey with me, hope you are enjoying the reviews and plan to continue to ride along!

Smile

Psychiatrist Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon) has a disturbing encounter with a patient who insists that she is being stalked by an entity who changes faces and forms, but has only one constant – its smile. Trying to probe further into the young woman’s problems, their session comes to a chilling end, traumatizing Rose.  Having witnessed her suicide, not only can Rose not get it out of her mind, but she is beginning to see strange things herself. The more she sees, the less people believe or trust her, and she is about to become a part of the same institution where she works, except for viewing it from the inside! Will no one save her from the creature who smiles?

I will admit this was a creepy film, but not anything extraordinary. Decent writing and acting, but a not

overly complex plot which isn’t even fully explained. I never did understand who or what the creature was. Nonetheless it’s worth watching at least once. If for no other reason, than to see Kal Penn as Rose’s boss. Also, Robin Weigert plays Rose’s therapist. A good evening’s entertainment. I’ll give it 3.5 Stars

I decided to rewatch one of my favorite films for this post, hope you enjoy it too!

Silence of the Lambs

FBI trainee Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) is called into the office of her supervisor, Jack Crawford (Scott Glenn), the last thing she expects is to receive an actual field assignment. He tells her that they are doing a survey among a number of known and incarcerated serial killers for a study. Most of them have been cooperative, but one in particular has not and he wants Starling to approach him with the survey and to see if she can get answers out of him. Clarice is surprised that this seems to take priority right now, what with the killer Buffalo Bill on the loose – so-called because he likes to skin his humps. But what can she do but obey? So off to Baltimore she goes.

Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) has been incarcerated at the Baltimore Hospital for the Criminally Insane for a dozen years. He is held securely behind a wall of glass at the end of the hall. The director of the hospital, Dr. Frederick Chilton (Anthony Heald) is not only obnoxious but ambitious. He’s miffed when Clarice snubs his advances and his assistance. Dr. Lecter becomes intrigued by Clarice and her naivete and toys with her. But when another inmate disrespects her, he gives her some actual information.

Clarice follows the clues Lecter obliquely gave her and discovers a severed head in the back seat of an

old car in a storage unit. Crawford takes her with him unexpectedly after the discovery of another corpse in West Virginia, and she suddenly realizes she has become part of the Buffalo Bill case. In the meantime, Catherine Martin  (Brooke Smith), daughter of Senator Ruth Martin (Diane Baker) is kidnapped, and finds herself at the bottom of a well, being told to put the lotion on her skin.

Jealous of Clarice’s continued association with Lecter, Dr Chilton bugs his cell and learns some interesting information that Crawford has fed to Lecter through Starling. But Chilton decides to make his own deal with the distraught senator in hopes of fostering his own career. However, he’ll learn soon enough what it means to make an enemy of Hannibal Lecter. Clarice is racing against time, as Buffalo Bill is known to kill his victims after three days. But why? And what is the meaning of the marks on their backs? And why a death’s head moth?

Tick tock, tick tock…time is ticking, Clarice…

Based on the novel by Thomas Harris, Silence of the Lambs is a magnificent thriller that keeps you guessing to the very last minute. Jodie Foster shines as Clarice, the naive young woman whose greatest desire is to be in the FBI, and aspires to be a profiler. Scott Glenn is her supervisor, Jack Crawford, who takes a chance on a trainee to entice Lecter into helping with the Buffalo Bill case, although he doesn’t tell her that. Ted Levine is incredible as Jame Gumb (I am a huge Ted Levine fan) and his dance is pretty amazing. But the star of the show, without a doubt, is Sir Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter, one of the most fascinating characters to be found both in the book and on the silver screen. Prior to this, there was a film of the novel Red Dragon, called Manhunter, which starred Brian Cox as Lecter. But once Hopkins assumed the role, it became his.

Direction, acting, writing – this film has it all. And it stands up to repeated viewings. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of this. I’ll give this film 5 Stars.

Wednesday Briefs: February 8, 2023

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Here is a list of all the authors flashing this week, along with a brief snippet from their latest free work. Click the link after the snippet to be taken to the complete story on the author’s home page.

Bad Karma and the Family Plan #60 (12.5) by Julie Lynn Hayes

Even as we were working out the details of where to have breakfast, something kept tickling the back of my brain, something I couldn’t quite put my finger on. And then I realized with a start what it was. Today was Sunday. So why wasn’t Reverend Thorne in the pulpit, pontificating and doing his weekly minister thing?

The same thought must have occurred to Ethan as we exchanged troubled looks. Sundays to us were usually days of rest, being lazy as we relaxed around the house (when we weren’t on assignment, of course).

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Book Review: Assassination Classroom, Vol 6 by Yusei Matsui

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Assassination Classroom, Vol 6   

Author: Yusei Matsui

Publisher: Viz Media

American release date:  October 6, 2015

Format/Genre/Length: Paperback/Action Adventure Manga/192 pages

Overall Personal Rating: ★★★★★

Reviewer: Julie Lynn Hayes

Now that his class has learned that one of Koro Sensei’s weaknesses is water, they decide to come up with an assassination plan utilizing that knowledge! While pretending to play around in the new pool he created for them, they’ll throw him into the water. Once he is underneath and helpless, a hidden student will take advantage of his helplessness and stab him. Meg Kataoka is perfect for the job, being a top swimmer, and she is more than up for the challenge! When Meg reveals the reason why, with her good grades, she fell down to Class E, because of a supposed friend, her true friends and Koro Sensei decide to help her break the one-sided co-dependency.

When the pool is unexpectedly trashed, some of the students look toward Terasaka and his friends as the culprits, largely because of his horrible attitude toward school in general and Class 3E in particular. Itona and his assassin/mentor take advantage of Terasaka’s feelings to recruit him for some work for them, namely to help assassinate Koro Sensei. But when their actions endanger the other students and not just Koro Sensei, can Terasaka really go along with the program?

The time has arrived for the Final Exams! As extra incentive, those students who receive first place in a subject in their grade will be allowed to shoot off one of Koro Sensei’s tentacles. Karasuma and Irina warn Principal Asano not to interfere with the tests, and he claims he would never do such a thing. Asano does tell his very intelligent son, who is top of his class, that he expects Class A to defeat Class E. His son says he is sure he can do it, and makes a bet that when he does, his father has to tell him the secret he is hiding about Class E (which would be about Koro Sensei, who is unknown to most of the school, as well as the world). The principal agrees. Than young Asano and his cohorts make their own private bet with Class E, with special stakes.

By now, this class of would-be assassins is beginning to be conflicted. While on the one hand, they are seriously studying to assassinate their teacher and save the world, on the other hand, they like him quite a bit. When the time comes, will they actually be able to follow through? In this volume, we see more of Terasaka, who has been hovering on the edge of the class. But now he is faced with a do or die decision and will hopefully grow in the process. The final exams are going to be real nail-biters, especially given the track records of the other students and their principal. Is it possible there will be no monkey wrenches thrown into the works to sabotage them? Only time will tell.

Good volume, look forward to the next one!

Saturday is Horror Day #99 – Barbarian

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Reviewer: Julie Lynn Hayes

Barbarian

Tess (Georgina Campbell) books a night at an AirBnB for a job interview the following day. Arriving during a storm, she discovers to her dismay that when she uses the code on the lockbox, the key isn’t there. That isn’t supposed to work that way. Then her irritation turns to confusion when she sees a light inside. Knocking, she discovers that Keith (Bill Skarsgärd) is already there and he too has a reservation for the night. Tess decides to leave but Keith persuades her to stay, and gives her the bedroom. She is wary but doesn’t have much of a choice. She goes to her room and closes the door, before going to bed. But in the middle of the night, she awakens, hearing a noise, to find her door open. She confronts the sleeping Keith, who denies all knowledge of the door.

Tess goes to her interview the next day and is shocked to see the neighborhood surrounding the AirBnB consists of decrepit, boarded-up houses. Good thing she isn’t staying long. After her interview, she returns to the house but there is no sign of Keith. When the power acts up, she heads to the basement to deal with it, only to accidentally lock herself in when the door closes behind her. And she has left her phone upstairs. Searching for a way out, she stumbles upon a secret room which contains a bed whose mattress is covered in suspicious stains and a camera on a tripod. Who knows what once went on in this place. Spying a door, she opens it to discover what appear to be steps carved into the ground, leading down…

 
 
 

AJ (Justin Long) is a one-time actor whose career was ruined by false accusations from a female co-

star. Determined to get away from it all, he decides to go to one of the properties he owns, which he rents out as an AirBnB. He’s confused to find evidence of occupation, since no one is supposed to be there.  But it looks like a couple of people are staying there, although they aren’t in evidence. In looking around, he heads down to the basement and is locked in too. Then he too discovers the secret room, which leads to the secret door leading down, down, down… to where? Hearing a cry, he heads down to find out.

 

To be honest, this is the point where I just gtfo some other way and not down those creepy stairs. But then where would the movie be, right? She does go down the stairs, of course. This movie is not what it first appears to be. And it is pretty creepy. I’ll admit I didn’t find the ending as disturbing as some might, but I’ve seen this trope before. It’s not something one would readily guess, though. Definitely worth watching, and probably rewatching. I’ll give this film 4 Stars.

Wednesday Briefs: February 1, 2023

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Here is a list of all the authors flashing this week, along with a brief snippet from their latest free work. Click the link after the snippet to be taken to the complete story on the author’s home page.

Bad Karma and the Family Plan #59 (12.4) by Julie Lynn Hayes

Call me unobservant, at least where women were concerned, but until that moment, I hadn’t noticed two things about Ethan’s sister. The first was that she was dressed rather nicely for first thing in the morning, at least when compared to how I remembered the way she dressed when she stayed with Ethan and me. The second was that she was wearing more make-up than I’d ever seen her use before. Not that I’m saying she was in full clown mode or anything like that. To be honest, it was minimal but tasteful… and I found myself wondering what Ethan might look like with make-up.

Note to self: Explore that possibility at a later date.

“I’ll get that!” she exclaimed

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Film Review: Ip Man 2

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Reviewer: Julie Lynn Hayes

Ip Man 2

Having fled the village of Fo Shan, Ip Man (Donnie Yen) and his family end up in British Hong Kong, where the master plans to open a school to train students. He gets a good deal on a rooftop studio and sets up shop. But no one is coming, and he is finding it hard to make ends meet. To complicate matters, his wife Wing-sing (Lynn Xiong) is pregnant with their second child. Just when things seem bleak indeed, Ip Man begins to acquire students, although they aren’t always able to pay the school fees. But at least it’s a start.

Trouble soon arrives in the form of the other martial arts masters in Hong Kong, led by Master Hung (Sammo Kam-Bo Hung). They summon Ip Man and lay down their rules. First, he needs to prove himself to them through battle. He has to stand on a table and fight all comers until the incense burns down or until he loses. He accepts the challenge and proves himself.

At this time, the Chinese are very much under the thumb of their imperial masters, the British. Some of

them are less than respectful… or honorable. A British boxer known as the Twister (Darren Shahlavi) comes to town to participate in an exhibition of Western-style boxing. But the cocky fighter wants to show the Chinese how superior he is to them, and interrupts the display of the various schools to challenge them. It’s on! But can the Chinese win, with the odds stacked against them, and the crooked police supporting the British masters?

The second film in the series sees Ip Man and his family relocated to Hong Kong and in much more desperate conditions than the first film. Still, he is determined to provide for his family, at the same time maintaining his principles. There is a casualty from the first film, Ip Man’s friend Quan, who was shot in the head by the Japanese and is not the same man. I liked this one as much as the first, great fight scenes, and I love Ip Man’s wife, who doesn’t want to disturb his focus on this very important match just to let him know she has gone into labor. Look at the end for a small cameo by a little guy who will become the real Ip Man’s most famous student! Looking forward to the next film. I’ll give this one 4.5 Stars.