The Golden Age Was Actually A Vibrant Yellow (The Simpsons) [Introduction]

Welcome to 2026 on Frezno's Raving Rants, (a little late I know, but blame snowstorms, flu, and tragedy), where the theme is "big ambitions". So here we are, tackling a really big show in a project that will probably take me at least a quarter of the year. (I was an optimist when I wrote those words in January. Fuck.) Why would I do this to myself? Hubris, or something. Really, the seeds of blossoming nostalgia were planted back in June of 2024 when I went on that throwback trip with Street Cents, the Canadian show that helped teens spend their money wisely. I won't rehash all of that, as it's right there if you want to hear about 90's Canadiana vibes, but I will once again mention the Studio Coquette block that ruled my weekday afternoon TV watching. Because I never get tired of reminding you all that the CBC really did put a CGI French-Canadian bulldog as their after-school mascot. I found another promo for it again, and this one shows the particular oddities of that afternoon block. Street Cents and Jonovision make sense as shows targeted to Canadian tweens and teens. Road To Avonlea, a period drama with ties to Anne Of Green Gables, feels very much like the odd one out. Very weird, but we're here to talk about the reason why I showed up for this particular program block. At long last, it's time to talk about The Simpsons.

Frezno's Games Of The 2025 Thing!

Well, here we are again, gang. 2025's sunset, and as is tradition, we're going to talk about a bunch of computer video games I played during that time. I haven't gone as crazy with the gaming as I have in past years, but this is nevertheless a delight to do as a yearly wrapup. All the apps get to do it, so why can't I on my big blog? The end of the year is always a party, so let's get the party started and celebrate the year that was... in personal computer video gaming for your old pal Frezno Inferno.

Why Jingle All The Way Is My Favorite Christmas Movie

A very happy holiday to all of you at home! This constitutes a little bit of a holiday gift for you all. Usually on this blog, we run radio silent from Halloween to New Year because I do November words and by the end of that I'm wiped out. This year's Non-Specific November Writing Month was actually not that taxing, and the words flowed like wine, so I'm not completely burnt out. That and I've had a few weeks of rest. 2026 is going to be bumpin' with content, hopefully. There were two big things I wanted to write about and then just didn't get to. Maybe if there's time I will revisit them and do it again, they're very heady pieces. For now, here's a gift to you. Something I've threatened for a long time and am now finally doing at long last. It's time to talk about my favorite Christmas movie. Surely you have one as well that you hold near and dear to your heart. A beloved nostalgia classic like It's A Wonderful Life or A Christmas Story? A comedy classic like National Lampoon? One of those buckwild ones that merge the holiday with horror and action, like Die Hard or Gremlins? Here, then, is mine.

Jingle All The Way is my favorite Christmas movie, and I'm about to justify that.

Sixteen Further Screams For Halloween: Day 16 (Halloween: The Curse Of Michael Myers)

Boo.

Happy Halloween! I hope the ghosts and/or goblins are good to you and that many a child came to your door searching for the treats, which you will have provided of course. 'Cause you're good like that. I had a good few at the door, and possibly more now that the sun is down. Of course, the kids knocking were a welcome distraction, because it gave me a reprieve from engaging with GODDAMN FUCKING HALLOWEEN SIX THE CURSE OF MICHAEL MYERS. Perhaps I gave the game away a little early in this review, but oh my God. Oh my good God this is dire. It's been a long time coming, after going through this series in a strange order (and detouring for the David Gordon Green trilogy), but here we are. The end of the Jamie Lloyd trilogy. That which Halloween 5 was building up to with its strange glimpses of the man in a coat and hat. And it's shit. It's a complete and muddled clusterfuck fired on screen in 90 minutes, it killed whatever the hell these folks were planning, and only by the good graces of Wes Craven making Scream a year later and causing people to go "hey these slasher things sure are popular" did we get Halloween H20 from that. Let's go wild into this thing and what it does wrong.

Sixteen Further Screams For Halloween: Day 15 (28 Years Later)

It's another curious place I'm in here, as the astute among you will note I've not actually talked about anything from this series before. I know it by reputation, mostly by the fact that it bucked the usual zombie trend by having the zombies be able to run really fast at you to get you. Also not traditional undead zombies, but people infected by a plague. Kay. I knew all that going in, and didn't quite know what to expect. The result is a strange film, but one with a lot of artistic merit and thematic weight. I'm not sure if I get all of it, or if my read is correct, but as always I'm going to take a stab at it. Let's talk about some fast and spooky British zambabinos, I guess.

Sixteen Further Screams For Halloween: Day 14 (Anatomy)

 As we wind down here, let's branch out a bit from the cinema before the final push and talk about a spooky video game. Previously when I've done this sort of thing, it's been a focus on mainly retro titles like Splatterhouse or Sweet Home. Brief and short little experiences from the olden days of gaming that nonetheless tried to add the spooks and scares of horror cinema to the interactive medium. Anatomy is not one of those, but rather is an indie horror game from one Kitty Horrorshow, which you can purchase here for a couple of bucks. It's about an hour long and has some spooky atmosphere which I'm going to talk all over, so if you're interested then by all means check it out before I go into that. Which I will do, right about now.

Sixteen Further Screams For Halloween: Day 13 (Pearl)

It's been a strange road which has led me here to this motion picture, and it's all thanks to Scream. TO make a long story short, last year the two stars of the recent Scream pictures getting shitcanned because one said pro-Palestine things and the other protested her costar getting shitcanned. That led to me swearing off new Scream, but also doing a duo of films each starring those girls as my tribute in solidarity. Those films were Abigail with Melissa Barrera, and X with Jenna Ortega. Ignoring for the moment that X wasn't the best Ortega tribute because A) She's a supporting character and B) she doesn't make it through the film, it nevertheless remained a pretty good motion picture. I had a bunch to say about old age, sex, and the notion of sexhavers in horror movies when I covered it. What I didn't know then was that this was only half the story. That movie has a companion piece, which is what we're covering here today. I only had the vaguest memories of X, given that it was literally a year ago when I watched it. I recognized some of the geography from the prior movie, but went in with only the notion of "Mia Goth, who was in X, is now playing a young version of that creepy old bitch who killed everyone in X". I was not ready for what was about to transpire.