Monday, January 20, 2014

In The Moment: Martin Luther King Day (Original)

On this day we remember and celebrate the legacy of a man who forever changed the face of the United States of America. His impactful words still resonate in our hearts to this day. His protest, peaceful. His message, an equal coexistence.


Nearly half a century ago the United States was a much different place than the U.S. we know and love today. African Americans were treated horribly, schools, buses, restaurants, and even bathrooms were segregated, white and black. The nation was filled with a hate who's origins have yet to be revealed. But there were those who would challenged that hate. One of the most iconic of those warriors of love was Dr. Martin Luther King. With a powerful message from on high, he followed by those who also believed in a dream marched. Their journey was riddled with ridicule, thrown rocks, assault and battery from police, water hosing from firemen and the unleashing of attack dogs. But in the end, they made it to their destination. Because of their sacrifice we are now able to enjoy freedom from segregation and oppression.




Today people still believe in that same dream. So in remembrance and in unification, we all march together, black, white, brown, yellow, green, purple in this nation of red, white, and blue.






Sunday, January 19, 2014

Movie Review Time: The Bates Haunting (Original)

     Horror laced with a heavy dose of gore and the paranoia of knowing nobody can be trusted. The Bates Haunting is one to look out for. The story takes place on a farm (the Bates farm) that annually hosts a Halloween attraction. The plot begins with a young woman (Lily Hansen) meeting her untimely demise from the fiery breath of a mechanical dragon. After her mysterious death, rumors spark about the farm being haunted. Friend of Lily, Agnes Rickover, plagued with nightmares of her friends death and unable to except it was a freak accident, decides to investigate. She accompanied by her close friend Clyde Abelson, venture out to the farm in search of the truth behind the strange happenings. Agnes gets hired to work the Bates farm Halloween attraction, where she crosses paths with Junior Bates, a strange young man with a strong sense of dedication to the farm. Soon after she begins working, things start to take a turn for the worst. People begin to die in seemingly similar freak accidents as Lily. Agnes finds her suspects as victims and those she didn't suspect as the masterminds. The Bates Haunting was well put together. The characters played their roles excellently, the acting didn't seemed forced. The plot was interesting, the most obvious suspect was Junior, but his character was so harmless you couldn't help but give him the benefit of the doubt. Agnes was no where near the scared female role one would expect. The most clever part of the movie was the theme of a haunted farm. All the murders were seen as just apart of the show! I give director Byron Turk two thumbs up for a job well done.

I had a chance to briefly discuss the movie along with future plans with director and producer Byron Turk during 2013's Thriller Chiller event in Grand Rapids. 




For more information on The Bates Haunting visit http://www.thebateshaunting.com/ also follow the film on twitter @BatesMotelMovie. Also follow Byron @ByronFever and visit his website http://byronfever.com/main.html for information on upcoming projects.


For more video of Byron visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAM15C1pSFQ via Weird Review.