I just ordered the Lord of the Rings Trilogy Extended Editions 12-disc DVD set, complete with all those crazy documentaries. I wish it included the theatrical editions, but I’m sure they’re holding that back for the 15-disc set in 2020, along with two-hour documentary about the guy who swept the candy wrappers out of the location shots in Morder.
It’s my Christmas present, and because Amazon Associate fees cancelled the cost, I’m getting it early and will watch it with the family.
1) A big list of fantastic stop motion movies. Whoa.
2) “FIGHT ME” Video. Pretty funny stuff.
3) Elementary school kids explain computers, from 1984. Video.
4) Halloween house lights that will amaze you. Video.
Attention Google users: There’s no medical advice in this post.
I’ve been sleeping on the couch for two nights because I don’t want to keep my wife awake, but tonight I can’t even fall asleep on my own.
What’s more, I find that the extended edition DVDs of Lord of the Rings don’t include the theatrical version. I have to pay extra for both? I’d have been happy to forgo a NZ travelogue and a docu on the movies’ sound design for the theatrical versions, you jerks.
Screw this. I’m just going to work on my new book and to hell with going to sleep. I can pull an all-nighter like I used to do in college, right? Right?
Here’s a sleep-deprived poll about the wip: Secret lake city of the unexpectedly intelligent alligator creatures, yes or no?
INT. GOVERNMENT OFFICE – DAY
DON, a harried-looking middle management type in a wrinkled suit, opens a door.
DON
Come in, quickly.
ALLY hurries into the room. She’s red-eyed and upset, and she’s dressed as though she ran out of the house while cleaning the basement, which she did.
GAVIN, her weedy bookworm husband, slips in behind her.
Don checks that the hallway is empty then shuts the door.
DON
I thought your mother would be here.
ALLY
She’s in Spain. All flights are grounded–
DON
Of course. I’m sorry. It’s crazy out there.
ALLY
Uncle Don, do you know what
happened to my dad?
1) Evangelicals try to rebrand Halloween into “Jesusween” because what’s more important that Jesus’s ween?
2) Photos of people scared shitless at a haunted house. This is so freaking amazing I don’t even know.
3) Ten stubborn food myths that just won’t die.
4) Want to see part of a mountain fall into the sea? Video.
5) I include this because it looks great and is technically well done, even if the “story” isn’t: Stop-Motion Ninja duel. Video.
6) This is why I’m not nostalgic about Steve Jobs, even though my home is full of stuff he sold.
Bonus link: There’s a site re-posting old Usenet articles exactly 30 years after they were originally posted. Use your newsreader: nntp.olduse.net.
So, I watched FRIGHT NIGHT in the first week of its release, and I’m a little stymied that it’s not doing so well. Maybe I shouldn’t be; it was dumped at the ass end of August when theaters are filled with crap and crowded with successful movies still pulling in ticket sales. There were literally two theaters where I could see it.
Thing is, it’s actually a good movie. Scary, kinda gory but not too bad (I can’t stand really gory gross movies) and filled with terrific performances. Farrell plays the vampire Jerry Dandridge as an odd, alarming guy with a number of weird tics. And why not? This is a dude who spends a whole, whole lot of time alone.
The other actors do a great job, too: David Tennant gets the flashy, wacky Peter Vincent sidekick role which almost overshadows the great performances from the two leads. The story loses something when it turns away from the fading TV show host, but at least it dropped the god-awful “true love reborn.” They should have held it until October when horror movies traditionally do well.
Anyway, it’s a terrific movie with some fantastic tension; I recommend it. One of the reasons I wanted to talk about it, though, is that I’ve seen a number of people talking about the vampire as a monster. Vampires should not, they assert, be emo love kittens, nor should they sparkle, nor should they be anything but skilled, violent killers.
That’s even made explicit in the film, which I suppose is necessary since sympathetic vampires have been so popular that they needed to draw a line between those other stories and this one. The vampire is compared to the shark in JAWS early on. It’s a predator.
None of which is new. Some of this is contempt for the feminine and things perceived to be meant for women (“Alpha male romantic lead? Cooties!”). Some of this is simply because people love vampire-as-monster and have no interest in other interpretations.
Me, I’m glad to see it. I think vampires are flexible enough to carry all sorts of different stories, and people’s willingness to portray them not as an invading evil (Stoker’s Dracula was portrayed as an ugly Slavic immigrant come to steal wholesome Victorian women) but in any number of ways: Lover, friend, oddball neighbor, steadfast ally… Kevin Hearne’s books have a vampire lawyer in them. It’s the process of turning outsiders and monsters in to fully-rounded individuals, of acknowledging they have real humanity.
I’m for it.
It’s a little too long and it has a few uneven moments with the actors, but the production values are startling.
Chris Sims liked Conan more than I did.
Also, over the weekend, I posted a link to what appears to be the French cover for Child of Fire. (I know it’s plural; no big)
Today I’ll be writing and taking my son swimming.
So, I went to see CONAN yesterday at the first 2D showing. I’m pretty sure you couldn’t see it any earlier in my time zone, but I didn’t go because I’m such a huge fan. I’m not. I like Conan well enough as a character, but I went so early because of convenience’s sake.
And I write fantasy, so I thought I should see it.
Well, as you expected, it’s not really what you’d call a great movie. I did enjoy parts of it, though you wouldn’t think so to read this post.
There are a few things I expect to see in a good sword and sorcery movie (assuming somebody makes one someday) Spoilers! Continue reading