Scary stuff ahead
We are facing a Geostorm with a 100% chance of zombies, writes Chris Lackner.
MOVIES
Big releases on Oct. 20: Geostorm; The Snowman
Big picture: After a seemingly endless string of weather-related disasters, Geostorm couldn’t be timelier. When an elaborate system of satellites used to control the Earth’s weather go haywire, a planetwide “extreme weather alert” is issued. Enter the “geostorms.” This flick is every environmental action movie in one. Earthquakes. Check. Lava. Check. Tornadoes. Check. Hurricanes. Sure, why not? Tsunamis. You betcha. Blizzards? Totally. This is the kind of movie where landmark cities get wiped out in 30-second montages, and authority figures yell things like, “We have to shut the system down!” Meanwhile, Snowman finds a troubled detective (Michael Fassbender) facing the ultimate cold case — a resurgent serial killer who kills with the snowfall, and likes to make macabre snowmen and women out of his victims.
Forecast: Finally, a movie to help us get over our fear of Sharknadoes. It can always be worse.
TV
Big events: The Walking Dead (Oct. 22, AMC); 1922 (Netflix, Oct. 20)
Big picture: Rick Grimes and company are back. And it’s payback time against Negan and the Saviors. Last year’s dark journey of failure is off-set by an actionpacked season of comeuppance. The zombies better get out of the way or face being collateral damage. Meanwhile, 1922 is the adaptation of a Stephen King story about a farmer who conspires with his son to kill his wife. But some secrets don’t stay buried as his farmhouse rapidly turns into a house of horrors. This period horror drama is at least the third Stephen King adaptation this year. The King of Horror could write horror haiku on toilet paper and someone would pay him for it.
Forecast: The Walking Dead will end its season in a big reveal. The zombies are being controlled by the White Walkers’ Night King. Earth and Westeros are the same place. Rick will join the night’s watch and Daryl will be revealed as secret Targaryen.
MUSIC
Big releases on Oct. 20: Destroyer (ken); Margo Price (All American Made)
Big picture: Vancouver’s Dan Bejar, better known as Destroyer, is back to simultaneously impress and depress you in the followup to 2015’s Poison Season. New tracks include Tinseltown, Swimming in Blood and Saw You at the Hospital. We’ve learned one thing: Dan may be one of our most talented indie artists, but never let him play your kid’s birthday party. Meanwhile, Margo Price’s sophomore effort is All American Made. Tracks include Cocaine Cowboys, Wild Women and Learning to Lose with Willie Nelson. And you know, you got to know when to hold ’em and know when to fold ’em.
Forecast: Dan the Destroyer has a gift for creating, that’s for sure. But am I the only one who thinks this should have been a dark double album called Ken and Barbie? @chrislackner79