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I don't really have much of nuthin' to post this minute. I was going to do this memeorandum round up, but Jeezus H. Crabapple - I'm just sick of them all ... why are people being paid for opinions? Why do people act like they are doing anything but venting their hot air? These aren't experts in anything they're writing about - it's just opinion...!
Surprise! You don't have any brilliant insights! And, all you do is cross post to each other - if you want to argue and spat do it through email, dipshits.
So, yeah. I was gonna do this memeo-round up thing, but now I'm not. So I present this link instead to 'Arbogast on Film'. I won't lie - its an older post and he really needs to update it, but its pretty funny and after wading through the bullshit on memeo, I needed the laugh.
So, I present unto you, "Why You Are Not the Final Girl". I literally burst out laughing at the Pat Tracey entry, who bought it in 'Blood Feast', I believe.
Seriously, Arbo needs to update this mini-article.
This post is to direct some traffic to two articles over on the AMC blog that are a bit fun. One of them is written by Stacie Ponder (my asexual crush-interest who I plan to maybe one day marry, move to Australia and then become a polygamist so I can marry my other asexual crush-interest, Lyz Kingsley... and then juggle them with my not asexual partner, Tom... wow, I hope this doesn't happen until we're all too decrepit to care) of Final Girl and the other is by somebody else, but it's got Godzilla, so automatically gets a mention:
So, Final Girl's article focuses on some flicks focusing on Horror Hospitals -
Session 9 - Totally on my 'to buy' list... but that list is really, really long.
Anatomie - I haven't had much interest in this one, gotta admit, so probably won't show up here.
Hellbound: Hellraiser II - Never got into this series, alas, though I did catch this one on cable. I like the first one more and the other sequels were... well, they won't be featured on here either. I think this series was more up my brother's path, than mine.
A Nightmare on Elm Street III: Dream Warriors - Okay, I know that this one wasn't a good movie, but I have this guilty longing for it anyway. It's on my list.
Bad Dreams - On my list.
Visiting Hours - I remember seeing this and thinking that there was something off about it. I didn't realize at the time that it's a Canadian-made horror, and ergo has a slightly different sensibility than I was used to. Unfortunately, I remember this one having one or two standout scenes (Michael Ironside disconnecting an old lady's respirator and taking photos of her as she smothers to death is burned into my brain) but otherwise is kind of dull... and the killers inability to kill anchorwoman Deborah Ballin becomes ludicrous. I probably will end up not buying this one, even though it's on the list because there are just so many more deserving films to buy.
Halloween II - Ugh. Jamie Lee Curtis spending 70% of the film in a hospital bed? Michael suddenly taking an interest in protracted murder sequences a la Jason (I'm thinking the nurse being drained of blood, another image in the noggin)? No thanks.
The Possession of Nurse Sheri - I've never even heard of this one (including under its other title, Hospital of Terror) but it doesn't sound like one I need to rush onto the movie buy list.
The Manitou - Oh, Manitou, how excited I was to read all about you in some horror mag or another (Fangoria, maybe) and how deeply disappointing and stupid you turned out to be. No, will not be reviewed here.
Don't Look in the Basement - Doubtful that we'll be looking at that one here, either, but I'm a waffler on putting this one on the list.
The other post is from Maitland McDonagh and explores her picks for best Monster Movie Smackdowns:
Laurie Strode vs. Michael Myers - I am so there on this one. I love Laurie Strode and I think it all has to do with Jamie Lee Curtis. Laurie battled her brother in Halloween, HII, H20, H: Resurrection and then the Rob Zombie helmed remakes. The only ones that we'll be reviewing here are the original and H20 because Halloween II wasn't something that Carpenter wanted to make and Jamie wasn't keen on it either, and it shows throughout. It's dull and slashery instead of stalky-scary. As for Halloween: Resurrection... please. Laurie won in H20 and whatever her fate after that (I'm thinking some time in a ward to avoid prison and then getting on with her life with her son - but not her never-existed abandoned daughter). As to the remakes - not interested is the plain answer.
Freddy vs. Jason - God, what a pile. We're going to take a walk through the original Elm Street and visit Mrs. Vorhees' Crystal Lake but this junker can stay with the kids these days that don't know what an actual decent movie looks like. We might also visit guilty-pleasurer Dream Warriors, but that's the only sequel I'd even consider spending actual dollars on.
Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn - It's on the list, but really I'm more interested in buying the first one (I know - I don't own Evil Dead, yet; I hang my head in shame).
Aliens - Oh, but yes! We will definitely be stepping through a review of Alien, Aliens and Alien: Resurrection. I loathed Alien 3 after I wasted full ticket price to see it in a theater and was betrayed. I read that the director's cut is far, far better in structure so I keep going back and forth on whether I'll be buying it eventually. But, Aliens will definitely get a reviewing - the AMC article even quotes my all time favorite line... LOVE THIS MOVIE.
Zombie - (i.e. Zombie 2) I watched this online at youtube and I am so into it, so I'll definitely be buying this one and review it here eventually. (I'm telling you, I have so many 'to buy' movies....)
The War of the Gargantuas - BORING. Will not be reviewed here, as I will not spend money on it. To be fair though, I've read that the original Japanese movie is better than you'd guess if all you've seen is the butchered American version.
Godzilla vs. Mothra - DEFINITELY will be reviewed. I love the Big G. Alas, despite pretending, Maitland must be a pretender because she lists the 1964 movie, but her description is completely the 90's movie! Sacrilege... off with her head!
The Horror of Dracula - C'mon, is this even a question? Hammer - Lee's vampire count - Cushing's doctor - Oh, that is so being reviewed here!
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man - Wasn't very impressed with this movie and its rank wiff of being a money grab sequel, but it's included on the Universal Wolf Man set, so yes - I'll be review that one. In fact, I'll be doing so quite soon (I want to get the next Buffy and WATCHERS reviews out first).
And that's that, so head on over on the linkages....
It's all about Dru.
This is Faith.
And this is more general about the Scooby Gang, but there's an emphasis on Buffy/Angel, Willow/Xander and Giles/Jenny.
Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES): The orbital satellite keeping an eye on tropical depressions, hurricanes, and other weather related activity that may impact the U.S. : "Thanks to NASA technology and satellite data coupled with data from a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) operated satellite, you can see the tracks of storms from Arthur to Paloma from birth to death."
GOES-O: The latest in satellite weather study. It was launched earlier this year and was in testing mode when it shot some video and took pictures of Hurricane Bill as it headed toward the Bahamas on Aug. 20th.
Geotail: "The GEOTAIL mission is a collaborative project undertaken by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS), Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)." The original mission of this satellite goes back to 1992, where it studied and reported on the Earth's magnetotail dynamics (the planet's magnetic field as it is stretched 'behind' us by interaction with the solar wind). Currently (and since 1995) it has been continuing to collect information from a differing orbit on the solar winds interaction with the magentosphere.
Gravity Probe B: This mission is designed to test two of Einstein's thus-far unverified theories regarding is theory of relativity. I'll let the site tell you exactly what data they've collected and are going through (since 2005!) - "One is the geodetic effect, the amount by which the Earth warps the local space time in which it resides. The other, called frame-dragging, is the amount by which the rotating Earth drags local space time around with it." Not to kvetch, but how long does it take to tell whether he was right or wrong??
GRACE: 'The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment' were two satellites working in concert to make 'detailed measurements of Earth's gravity field to learn more about gravity and Earth's natural systems'. GRACE has been in orbit of Earth since 2002 and their big announcement is the scary amount of water that has 'disappeared' from India's underground aquafirs in the last 6 years.
Herschel Observatory: Herschel is a joint project which is being ran by the ESA to study proto star development in infrared vision. As their site puts it: 'Herschel can see the very dim infrared glow of cold dust that is only slightly warmer than the coldest temperature theoretically attainable. Herschel's view reveals that this star-forming region is even richer in cold and turbulent material than previously believed.'
HETE-2: 'The HETE program is an international collaboration led by the Center for Space Research at the Massachussetts Institute of Technology. Our collaborating institutions include the Institute for Chemistry and Physics (RIKEN), the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), the Centre d'Etude Spatiale des Rayonnements (CESR), the University of Chicago, the University of California, Berkeley, the University of California, Santa Cruz, the Centre Nationale d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), the Ecole Nationale Superieure de l'Aeronautique et de l'Espace (Sup'Aero), the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE), and the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR).' The primary mission of the satellite was to locate gamma-ray bursts. GRB's are extremely powerful events. This mission is listed under current, but there have been no updates in two years and at that time they were reporting that the satellite's batteries (after over 6 years of operation) were beginning to degrade substantially. It's possible that this satellite is no longer downloading valuable information.
Hinode: 'A collaboration between the space agencies of Japan, the United States, United Kingdom and Europe, Hinode's mission is to investigate the interaction between the sun's magnetic field and its corona.' Hinode was instrumental is studying the eclipse that occurred July 22nd, but it has also been studying sunspot and solar flare activity.
Hubble: Ah, my favorite mission ever. For anyone that's been living in a cave, locked away from any information whatsoever about the world, Hubble is the orbital telescope that has brought us images of deep, deep space. It studies our system's planets, gaseous nebula, star formation, black holes, quasars, even other galaxies... it is the greatest and I am so glad that they provided another service mission due to public outcry to upgrade and repair some of its systems so that it can continue to provide science, and let's face it - cool images, of objects that we'll never be able to see otherwise.
Latest Image:
more later....
Okay, so, I've already recommended 'Final Girl' a couple of times, which is probably making you think that we're having a torrid, hot affair.
And we are!! (Okay, that may only be happening in my head & we can only have the sort of affair that is sex free) but because Stacie has posted a nice, short AMC visit-these-haunted-house(movies)-post, I feel the need to send you over there anyway.
So, go.
Since October is the month for horror, I want to recommend two sites. One of these I've mentioned before because I loves me some Final Girl. The other is a fine movie viewer known as Arbogast. Both of them are doing a special somethin'-somethin' for the month and since I've enjoyed going through the month with 'em, here's the clicky-linky so you can give them some traffic, as well.
Final Girl is reviewing a horror movie a day:
Day 1: "Wait a minute...who am I here?"
You can can start with her mini-reviewy-thing of The Stepfather.
When you're done getting caught up on her 31 movies in 31 days (though, we're not at 31 yet - 'natch) you can skip on over to Arbogast's:
He's got something quite interesting going on... collecting 31 days of screams. Highlighting some of the best screamer scenes and describing why they caught his attention (which, yes... why is he so into screaming? creepy and all that, but I'm not suggesting you invite him over and be his new bestest friend) is a fascinating read:
It's that delay that makes this scream classic to my eyes. I wish Hobson had done more horror movies because she was born for it.
OMG, How... HOW!!! did I miss this interview with Joss Whedon by 'This American Life' on NPR. I feel like such a fool!
Don't let this happen to you... click here and listen if you haven't already (the interview is from Sept 23rd and he discusses Buffy and Firefly and Dollhouse and Dr. Horror and ... and ... just go and listen - and go halfway down the page).
I just love Joss Whedon.
Just a quickie post to recommend a site and provide linky:
Horror Film History
From the 19th Century literary roots through to the 2000's, check out these essays on the dominant themes of horror throughout the decades. It's interesting reading, and it comes with "further reading" recommendations for those who like to jump all over the intertubz instead of, say, writing chapters of their stories that they're supposed to be working on... just as a 'for instance'.
I'm also thinking there should be some love for the Tabula-Rasa horror timeline, which is kind of fun to read through:
The Horror Timeline
