December 13th brings us the Frank Miller’s Sin City (Recut, Extended, Unrated), meaning more ultimate black & white craziness. This movie rocked, and I have been dying for this extended version.
December 20th is the release of Serenity, the big screen follow-up to the short-lived Fox Television series, Firefly. (What is it with Fox and cancelling good shows??)
I have my Sin City and Serenity on pre-order, and so should you!
I am now the proud owner of a…..
OH YEAH! Who’s the man?
For those of you who have no clue why this is so ultimely awesome, you must see the movie Office Space…oh yes, YOU MUST!
“And I said, I don’t care if they lay me off either, because I told, I told Bill that if they move my desk one more time, then, then I’m, I’m quitting, I’m going to quit. And, and I told Don too, because they’ve moved my desk four times already this year, and I used to be over by the window, and I could see the squirrels, and they were married, but then, they switched from the Swingline to the Boston stapler, but I kept my Swingline stapler because it didn’t bind up as much, and I kept the staples for the Swingline stapler and it’s not okay because if they take my stapler then I’ll set the building on fire… “
I’ve always loved Halloween. A lot of it probably has to do with the fact that I grew up in the costume business. My dad’s mother owned the largest costume shop in the Southwest, outside of Hollywood. Some of my earliest memories are wandering through her shop looking at masks, and when she built a warehouse, I spent hours crawling through the racks, playing with swords and just marvelling in the wonders of costuming.
When I was 8, my mom opened her own costume shop here in Missouri and by the time I was 11, I was the only kid I knew with a make-up kit…stage make-up thank you. How many kids can tell you that they can make realistic bullet holes, chop off fingers and they mix their own blood capsules because “the commercially released ones suck”. Yep, you could say Halloween is in my…blood. Yeah, it was cheesy, so sue me.
Mom finally closed her costume shop several years ago, but there are still reminders of our past all over our house. Most horror movies do nothing for me because I am too busy looking at the make-up effects, visual gags and going “Oh come on, you could have at least blended the pancake at the collar!” No..I am not fun to watch movies with most of the time.
All that being said, I thought I would give you a list of some of my fave scary movies and TV shows.
Movies
Halloween – You can not make a list of scary movies without listing this one. It rejuvinated the lackluster horror genre of the 1970′s and really put Jamie Lee Curtis on the map. If it hadn’t been for John Carpenter’s vision of Michael Meyers, you probably wouldn’t have Jason, Freddy, Scream or any of the other horror films that followed.
Funny side story. The mask of Michael is a Capt. Kirk, of Star Trek, mask painted white. It was the only mask Carpenter’s prop man could find in a hurry. Years later, when Don Post Jr. wanted to make a Michael mask, he already had the mold, so was way easy to do. One problem, he had to pay to license it yet again since it was now considered another character. Too funny.
Hellraiser – A little bit heavy on the gore, too many horror movies think gore = good, but it overcomes it with an intriguing plot and creepy concepts.
The Nightmare Before Christmas – One of the things I love about this movie is that it will probably make my Christmas list also! Great music, amazing visuals and a cute story adds up a fun, yet dark, film.
Psycho – Alfred Hitchcock was a master of subtle horror. He could scare you more with what you didn’t see, than with what you saw. Has there ever been a scarier scene than the shower with Janet Leigh? And the casting of Anthony Perkins as Norman? Inspired! This is one of the few times I have liked a movie better than the book!
Sleepy Hollow – Tim Burton rocks. Johnny Depp rocks. Christina Ricci rocks. This movie was destined to be cool. Sure, some of the legend of the Headless Horseman was changed, but it still was a great, fun ride.
TV Shows
Kolchak – The Night Stalker – Sure the production values look horrible now, but this show had some top notch writing, great concepts and the stellar performing skills of Darin McGavin. If it wasn’t for this show, the X-Files and the new Night Stalker would have never come about. Well…yay for X-Files at least.
Tales from the Crypt – Based on the old EC Comics series of the same name, this show ran on HBO for several seasons and had some amazing guest actors and directors. The Crypt Keeper’s intros and exits were always amusing to.
And for free tonight on the Sci Fi Channel, you can catch the Ghsot Hunters Halloween Special! I love this show. You can also get season 1 of it on DVD now, but if nothing else, check out tonights episode at 10 EST/9 CST.
Happy Hauntings everyone!
I love DVD’s with alternate endings. It gives you a great insight into the thought process of the film makers. It lets you speculate what could have been and they are always interesting.
So, imagine my surprise while I was just watching Gilmore Girls (don’t laugh), and there was a Titanic – Special Collector\’s Edition DVD coming out. What caught my attention was “…with an alternate ending”. Um…excuse me? Is this the ending where the Titanic defeats the evil iceberg and discover it was a secret plot by a foreign power? How do you have an “alternate ending” for a story about…THE TITANIC? It is clear that James Cameron is insane. It also has 25 delted scenes, as if the movie wasn’t long enough already.
Everyone do me a favor, remember this will never be on my Amazon wishlist
It seemed like a good idea to someone I would assume, but it really, really wasn’t.
I love The Simpsons, I have been buying all the season sets, and today I got my copy of Season 6. ARGH!
It’s larger than other sets
It’s flimsy and cheap plastic
The insides are not fixed in place, so that when you open it the contents want to fall out
Honestly, the novelty of it wears off after about 3 seconds and it just becomes annoying
You can go here to order a replacement box for $2.95 shipping that will be more normal, but what a freaking hassle! Just give us the “normal” box to begin with!
