Movies that Made Me Keep the Lights on All Night

The Exorcist: I can't even bear the thought of this movie. I really hope that there's no such thing as demon possession.

Magic--One of Sidekick's picks. I've never seen it, but fuckin' dummy? No good. Not a big fan of dolls coming to life.

Psycho--Creepy, creepy, creepy. Less is more.

The Brood--Another one of Sidekick's picks, but it sounds disturbing. I'm curious, yet nervous to watch.

Freaks--Thought-provoking movie.
Seriously disturbing. My modern sensibilities are uncomfortable with the idea of people being put on display because of their physical differences. And I'm even more uncomfortable with them being the bad guys. I can't help but feel a lot of sympathy for the freaks, but the sequence where they get their revenge is really creepy. Gabba Gabba Hey!

Friday the 13th--The original. When Kevin Bacon gets it and the ending are among the good GOTCHA moments.

The Amityville Horror--The original never fails to creep me out. It's that demonic thing again. Man, is this house creepy. The creepiness factor is of course heightened by our relative proximity to Amityville. Finding the Amityville Horror house was a major pastime of LI teens. I wonder if they still do it. I worked in a school for awhile that had a number of kids from that neighborhood, and they all had debunking stories. The street names have been changed and the house extensively remodeled.

Part two to come later...

Is nauseating the new scary?

Saturday night, the husband and I parked the kiddies with my parents and took ourselves off to the movies to see our first grown up movie in ages, the remake of Halloween. Why on earth would we spend twenty bucks on this movie, with all that's out there? Upon reflection, good question. It may surprise you to find out that I am somewhat of a horror movie aficionado, and I think that the original Halloween, is one of the best movies ever, and certainly the grandaddy of all slasher films. But my husband and I have suffered through many Halloween sequels, including the one with Busta Rhymes in space (I may be mixing 2 movies together here) and the one with Paul Rudd and the cultists (don't ask, I have no idea what was going on). So in the interest of completeness, we went to see it despite not particularly enjoying the Rob Zombie ouvre (His films, that is. Love "Dragula" and "Thunderkiss '65").

The verdict: not awful, but not great. If you haven't seen the original, start there, but this wouldn't have been an awful rental. If anything, it served to show what made the Carpenter so great, by taking those elements away. As a young 'un, I wondered what made Michael Myers such a killing machine. Zombie gives Michael a backstory, which is supposed to show how he became what he was. Since Rob Zombie never met a white trash stereotype he didn't like, it features grimy, slutty characters spewing verbal abuse. Surprisingly, it weakened the story quite a bit. Are we supposed to believe that the 10 year old Michael snapped out and massacred his family because his mommy was a stripper and no one would take him trick or treating? Were we supposed to feel sympathetic? I preferred the mysterious, robot-like Michael Myers. Much more creepy.

Michael goes off to the Sanitarium, where he grows up to be enormous and super-strong despite the fact that he's spent his life in a small cell making paper mache masks. He escapes and returns to Haddonfield Illinois, where the story then closely mirrors that of the classic. Except that instead of dread and menace, punctuated by grab-your-date shocks, we get lots of blood and gore. I just don't get it. Lots of blood and gore is gross, yes, but not scary. I'm not closing my eyes because I'm scared, it's because my stomach is churning. What makes a killing sequence scary is that mounting dread, you know it's coming but not when. And leaving the details to the imagination works. What the viewers mind can come up with on their own is probably scarier than what the director can come up with. In the new version, Myers, quickly nabs his prey, then we're treated to endless shots of stabbing or bludgeoning then blood gushing and spurting. Sickening, but in an "enough already" way, not a truly frightening way.

In general, Rob Zombie's over the top sensibility is the problem. At times, it almost seems like he's parodying the slasher genre, but he doesn't take it far enough. Like I said, he loves him the white trash, but the characters are neither entertainingly ridiculous, or sympathetic, just repugnant. Similarly, the teenage girls are sooooo crass and slutty they seem like a joke, but the long drawn out death scenes are deadly serious. It comes off disturbingly like someone's got a fetish for topless young girls getting violently murdered. If you have a passing interest in horror movies, it might provide a good scare, but there's way better out there. The revisioning was pretty pointless, and shock value substituted for actual shocks.

A Meme...

Tagged by KristieJ

1. Total number of books I own:
400ish--I kinda stopped counting. I have increasingly limited space, so I have been ruthlessly weeding my collection. Of course, this is then counteracted by trips to the UBS where I pick up copies of books that I checked out of the library but now must own.

2. Last Book I bought:
A mini-spree at Liquid Silver: Alitus by Kayelle Allen, Measure of a Man by Bonnie Dee, Celeste by Tiffany Aaron

3. Last Book I read:
Big Girls Don't Cry by Brenda Novak. A Harlequin Superromance and new to me author. Good stuff, reminds me of the old days (see previous post's bitching). I polished it off yesterday evening and will review soon.

4. Five books that mean a lot to me:
**Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild--Read it until it fell apart, then bought a new one. Children's classic about three talented London sisters. I would still recommend it to any 9-10 y.o. aspiring ballerina/musician/actress.

**The Curse of the Blue Figurine by John Bellairs--The first book I read by the author that started me down the path to being a mystery/paranormal junkie. Uber creepy, but they don't hold up that well. Now I find them kind of hokey, but still rec them to kids.

**The Witch of Lagg by Ann Cheetham--Totally random YA horror novel about three teens in Scotland and the ghost of a witch. For some reason I was obsessed with it and I think it had a big influence on reading habits to follow.

**The Street of Five Moons by Elzabeth Peters--I may have mentioned once or a hundred times that Elizabeth Peters/Barbara Michaels is my favorite author ever, and has had the most profound effect on my reading tastes and twisted outlook on life. I'm particularly obsessed with Vicky Bliss and roguish art thief John, and still waiting patiently for Peters to return to them.

**Night Pleasures by Sherrilyn Kenyon--Not even my favorite SK, but this book holds a special place as the book that introduced me to paranormal romance and re-introduced me to romance in general, reigniting the book obsession that had grown quite dormant during my twenties.

5. Tag 5 people

Margee
C2
QB
Jennie
Mailyn (whenever you're around, Kiddo!)

Ta for now. Off to the pool.

Things I've Seen...

I've actually watched two movies in the last week!

*The Wicker Man, starring Nicolas Cage. This is a remake of a seventies film which starred Edward Woodward, and the original supposed to be much better. But I've never seen it, so that didn't really concern me. It was an interesting movie, slow at times, but different than most of what seems to be out there these days. It's about a policeman who goes to a small island colony in the Pacific Northwest. What he finds there is very strange. There were some strong actresses in small roles (Ellen Burstyn, Frances Conroy from Six Feet Under, Molly Parker from Deadwood, Diane Delano). But the female lead, an actress I had never seen before, was beautiful, but incredibly wooden. It was kind of jarring every time she came onscreen.

*The Covenant, starring a bunch of young good-looking men I've never seen before. The husband brought this home for me. Sometimes he makes strange choices on my behalf, but this looked promising enough. There were a bunch of hot, shirtless young men on the back of the case, and it was about young sorcerors in Ipswich, MA. It started out promisingly enough, with an (unconscious?) homage to The Lost Boys. I was looking forward to some cheesy fun. But the story was very poorly told. I suspect the movie was edited to within an inch of its life. The narrative took big leaps, so that it didn't make too much sense. Things seemed to happen with no reason. Except for a note at the beginning, the boys' powers and their origin were never explained. The Covenant of the title was given only a cursory mention about 2/3 in. I don't really know the what or why of it. If it's the title it should be explained. And the villain and his motives? Just dumb. This was a disappointment. One note: one of the actors, Taylor Kitsch, was quite pretty. And he's over 21. I checked, so I don't have to feel guilty over ogling.

Comfort Movies

Much like comfort reads, I find that there are certain movies which always make me feel shiny and happy. This time of year finds me hankering for certain movies. They aren't Holiday movies, but there's something about them that I associate with this time of year. There are so many crappy romantic comedies, and these are great ones. Ridiculous, passionate and utterly satisfying love stories. If you're looking for some escapist fare, might I suggest one of the following:



Last night I watched Moonstruck for about the hundreth time. I love, love, love this movie. I just adore the dizzy, romantic, warm feel of the whole thing. If you've never seen it before, Moonstruck is the story of Loretta Castorini (Cher), an Italian-American widow in her thirties, who accepts a proposal from long time beau Johnny Cammereri (Danny Aiello), who then takes off for Sicily. Her orderly, humdrum life goes to hell in a handbasket when she goes to meet Johnny's estranged brother, Ronny (Nicolas Cage) to tell him about the wedding. I don't particularly like Cher or Nicolas Cage, but they are fabulous in this movie. Nicolas Cage does crazy romantic so well (see my other favorite performance of his, Valley Girl, the best 80's teen movie evah). This is a quieter comedy, not rolling on the floor guffawing, but more giggles and smiles and things that strike you later. The Brooklyn of this movie is a place you'd definitely want to live in. It also has incredible dialogue (John Patrick Shanley is a playwright). This is probably the most authentically "Italian" movie I've seen and not in a cheesy, "that's-a some-a spicy meatball" way. Everything rings true, from all important discussions taking place in the kitchen, to adult children never leaving home, to family constantly being up each other's butts, which can be as reassuring as it is annoying. If you've never seen this one, it's worth a shot. It's different, sweet and romantic.

Next on my list to re-watch is You've Got Mail. Far superior to Sleepless in Seattle, if you ask me. Meg Ryan is hit or miss for me but I love her (and her hair and wardrobe) in this one. Aside from how great she looks, she also plays the owner of a children's bookstore on the Upper West Side, so she's pretty much the person I always planned on being when I grew up, which is also probably part of why I adore this movie. And of course you've gotta love the Hanks. Tom Hanks is the man (don't forget his early movies, like Splash, Nothing in Common, or The Money Pit. There are just so many.).
They have great chemistry, the banter is witty, the supporting characters are entertaining, and of course the bookstore settings. This is another movie which makes New York look like a dreamy, romantic, fabulous place to live. I haven't seen this one in awhile. I'm definitely renting it.

The first time I saw Roxanne was on Christmas Eve, which is probably why I'm in the mood to watch it.
Steve Martin is great as CD Bales, a beta hero if there ever was one. He's smart, witty and saddled with an enormous schnoz. Daryl Hannah is typically wooden, but that's okay. This movie also has a great setting (small town Colorado), filled with eccentric characters, which adds to the fun. It's very funny, even when you're cringing, and has a saisfying happy ending.

Hope all you Americans enjoyed your Thanksgiving! Perhaps soon I'll be in the mood to read and review some books.

It's the girl in the red truck, Charlie Brown

My son is very into the Peanuts. Both our local library and the library that I work at have an extensive collection of old Snoopy cartoons so we regularly check them out. The other day, the H-Bomb chose this one:



I had a bad feeling about it (look at that cover), but he insisted, so anyway...as a mom, one is often forced to watch shows that one might not otherwise, but this was one of the strangest. My son keeps watching it over and over again, and I have no idea what would make this appealing to small children. There is no Snoopy or Charlie Brown, instead it focuses on Snoopy's seedy-looking brother,Spike, who lives out in the California desert. It is mostly live action, and revolves around his friendship with the very perky Jenny, who is torn between her love for her home, and her boyfriend. Her boyfriend is one of those white bread, blonde and handsome, yet somehow creepy types the 80's did so well. He wants to go to LA to be a musician or something. This is pretty much it--Jenny's relationship issues and a long roller skating sequence. Seriously, Jenny and the boyfriend spend a lot of time talking about their relationship and whether to go to the "city" or not. And she yammers with her bitter waitress friend. Boyfriend is also disturbingly jealous of the friggin' cartoon dog. It's so weird. I don't even think an older kid would enjoy it. So I looked it up on IMDB (shut up, I don't need to get a life), and I found out two fascinating facts: Jenny is played by Jill Schulz, daughter of Charles Schulz, and the roller skating rink in the movie belonged to Charles Schulz. I did further investigation into the career of Jill Schulz (shut up, I don't need to get a life), and she had few credits that all revolved around roller skating. So she must be some kind of...roller skating person. I could tell you she ain't no actress. I wonder if the other two actors were Schulz family members, or employees of the roller rink or something. The whole movie was to showcase the woman's roller skating talent. I can't decide if I like the randomness of it or it was just super-bad. Anyway, we just took it out yesterday, but I think we'll have to return it sooner than later, b/c I can't take too much more.

Tiny steps...

I finally figured out how to add links to the blog. And it was fairly painless. Cool!! Now different sites I look at all the time are all in one place. My own little Internet portal. What a concept. Can't believe it took me so long to figure it out. Now if only I coud figure out how to do that thing where you put up part of the post and the reader can click to read the rest. I think it looks better, is easier on the eyes and you can get more on a page. I can't find "help" for it. I'm also going to do a little author link section.

Last night I watched "Corpse Bride." I love Tim Burton. Almost always (I'm looking at you "Planet of the Apes.") I liked it. It was about Victor, dreamily romantic, wussy son of nouveau riche fish merchants who is to marry Victoria, the daughter of obnoxious, impoverished aristocrats. They hit it off right away, both being passive, pointy faced and wan (but nice). However, Victor freezes up at the Wedding rehearsal and is sent off to rehearse his vows. While practicing, he unwittingly promises himself to the Corpse Bride, who died tragically and has been awaiting her groom ever since. The animation was beautiful in a macabre way, and I loved the little details--the "Head Waiter", the maggot who lives in the Corpse Bride brain and gives her advice. The land of the Dead was fabulous. My favorite part was when the dead people came back to the land of the living, and the living people were afraid until they realized it was their grandfathers, husbands, friends etc. then everyone goes to the church together. Classic Burton. That being said, I don't think it was the best. Nothing was compelling enough that I'd go out of my way to watch it again. It was an amusing novelty. I'd say it's worth a try for anyone who likes Tim Burton,animation, or black humor. Expect to be amused but not blowm away.

Brokeback Mountain, Upcoming Reads

So I went to see Brokeback Mountain with one of my sisters and a friend. I enjoyed it. It was a lovely, sweeping tragic love story. Excellent performances all around. But I can't wonder if all of the slavering over this film is just b/c of the, well, gay thing. Like I said, the acting was great but it's just acting. I know that it is oh so, so difficult to play gay, when you are a really, really, seriously, oh so straight actor, but the fact that you are able to do so convincingly? Dude, it's part of your job. Stop talking about it, already. And really, neither Jake Gyllenhaal nor Heath Ledger are super masculine. They're like a couple of liberal arts college grads you'd meet in a bar in Wlliamsburgh. And Jakey's got the biggest set of doe eyes since Audrey Hepburn. Seriously, I was more impressed by their ability to convince me that they were cowboys. It's not like Arnold Schwarzenegger in a gay cowboy love story or something. And I don't understand why Heath is getting SO much attention. I have never particularly liked Jake before, and I thought that not only was he excellent, but that he had the more uncomfortable role, as the more self-aware "gay" one and the one who makes the advances. I'm just blabbing though. Everyone was good. As for the love scenes, I know that everyone has a different comfort level, but I thought it was quite mild, and since I was enjoying the movie and involved, it didn't take me out of the story at all. The (implied) sex scene was super fast and they were fully clothed. However we did get to see the boobies of the two female leads, which...weird. I guess that was for the three straight guys in the audience. The theater must have been like 80% women. Anyhow, a sad, touching love story.

Anyway, I've been really unmotivated to read my TBR pile. I keep returning stuff to the library. I'm in the winter blahs, I'm just going to read old favorites mood. So I thought I'd compile list to get me excited for Spring releases.

MARCH
The Devil in Winter

Lover Eternal

Lord Perfect

APRIL
The Taming of the Duke

Broken

Dates From Hell

Dead and Loving It

MAY
Definitely Dead

Captives of the Night

An embarassment of riches. I read "The Lion's Daughter by Loretta Chase, recently re-issued. I haven't had time to write about it, but good. Unusual hero, unusual heroine, unusual setting. Neither was particularly heroic, but good people, and I liked the fish out of water thing, first in Albania, then in England. I am eagerly awaiting Ismal's story, I liked the glimpses of him in Lord of Scoundrels, now am ultra curious to read his evolution.