Weapons of Class Destruction

So... I've been sort of absent lately, and that's mostly because I've just felt sort of blah lately, between the heat and just general anxiety issues. Went to get my hair cut last Friday; my sister's regular hairdresser was snotty to her and I ended up with just some random woman who... really didn't seem to know what she was doing. Needless to say, it doesn't look great (which is why no pictures, when you got such lovely ones of me back in December!)

I also realized that I've basically lost all of that built up immunity I've had for going out in public, which is depressing, honestly. I used to go on trips to see my friends and do a modest amount of shopping. Sighs. I suppose, when things even out again with both mine and my sister's lives, I can start the process of building it up again, but... there it is, le sigh.

Shutter Island: A Short Review - ( Spoilers )

Night at The Museum 2: An Even Shorter Review - Hank Azaria, I love you! Greek kick-ass power! The movie was cute, though I'm not sure why the filmmakers thought kids'd be so captivated by the romance between Larry and Amelia Earhart. A nice way to spend a couple of hours, not outstanding but pleasant.

Alice in Wonderland - You Guessed It, A short Review - Loved it. Was surprised at how much I loved it, even though everyone I know recommended it. I adore Mia Wasikowska. Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter was excellent!

Haven't gotten out to see any of the summer movies (see: above). Was hoping to see Prince of Persia or A-Team (my childhood demanded it!), but it didn't happen. Last Air Bender is still on the horizon and of course Harry Potter!

True Blood 3x01: ( spoilers )

Doctor Who: Love, love, love the new season. Matt Smith, you are a wonder! And to think I ever doubted you or Karen Gillan! It took a bit for the season to get going, in my opinion, but it's been absolutely divine since "Time of the Angels"! Oh and River Song! I could not love you more, though I already do from what I knew of you in last season, and I'd thought that was impossible back then!

Peace, Ghani

And more proof that Jackie Earle Haley rules the universe. Damn, he's a scary Freddy, as scary as Englund was in the original!



Peace, Ghani

+ Okay, lemme axe you something: Is there, like, some unspoken rule that decorations have to come down on New Year's Eve? Because not only is the street now completely dark, but I've noticed that most houses rushed to take 'em down today for good! To me, they're a part of the New Year celebration, you know? They certainly always were when I was a kid! I just don't geddit.

+ New Moon LULZ! I don't quite see why everyone thinks it's so much better than the first movie; yeah, I suppose it's more faithful in that it sort of shoehorns everything in there, but that doesn't necessarily make for a gripping adaptation. We enjoyed it thoroughly however, as I knew we would. And a new phrase has entered our vocabulary: freaky nipple! Because Rob Pattinson's left one... yeah. Forget Emily's face, I dare you to look away from his, well, freaky nipple! But the biggest LULZ goes to the middle aged guys sitting across the aisle from us and hooting it up; they would have been annoying, I think, throughout most anything else but their chuckles were sort of infectious and we all started to laugh when they did. As we were walking out of the theater, they walked in front of us: "That... wasn't exactly what I was expecting. "Naw. But I enjoyed it though!" They WIN! Possibly more on this later.

+ Inglourious Basterds FTFW! Expected Pulp Fiction-esque excesses; got Jackie Brown-like thoughtfulness and care in movie crafting. I finally understand all the hype behind Melanie Laurent. And Brad Pitt... He just made me smile every time he was onscreen! And the Hitler, ahahahaha! Man, only Tarantino could make a WWII film and have a Hitler as insane as I imagine he really was. Loved that Quentin seemed offended in general by the idea that Goebbels ever though he was going to be the future of film. Just so amazing.

+ Happy, happy, my darlings! Hope you all have wonderful ones! And remember when you're out partying tonight: if you can't remember it, it didn't really happen!

Peace, Ghani

Okay, here's something you may not know about me: While I do adore horror, I simply cannot stand Wes Craven. Not only do I think he's the worst for women by far of the biggies (Carpenter, romero, etc.), while the others apologize for it, he gets away with saying how edgy his treatment of the fairer sex is because he's a slick talker. So imagine my surprise when I actually found myself almost spraining something squeeing over the trailer for the Nightmare on Elm Street remake. Come on, Jackie Earle Haley as Freddy?! Can it get any freaking better?! I think he's about the only person in existence I'd accept replacing Robert England. And there's Katie Cassidy (wall and ceiling death! Kick ass!), Kyle Gallner (Johnny Depp's part!) and Rooney Mara (Kate's little sister) to sweeten the deal. Oh yeah, I'm excited!



Peace, Ghani

You might have already seen the very first picture of Alice looking down the rabbit hole, but there's also been a slew of character profile shots released (click on the thumbnails):







The last one interests me especially because, while he continues to put Helena Bonham Carter in everything, he made Anne Hathaway resemble ex and one time muse Lisa Marie Smith (Beehive Alien in Mars Attacks, Vampira in Ed Wood, Lady Crane in Sleepy Hollow--my favorite of her performances and my favorite part of that movie!--and one of the apes in Planet of the Apes) to an insane degree! Which also makes it interesting that it's like the Red Queen vs the White. Hm....

Peace, Ghani

So, we're still under a tornado watch until this afternoon but, really, the worst of it is long over, thank goodness! We lost power a little yesterday but we were the only building to get it back almost immediately (in reverse, I think most of the buildings actually kept their power on Thursday when we'd lost it) and it was bad, even the front office was out and a bunch of us who live near the entrance went out in the rain to prop open the gates because, of course, they weren't working!

And, in other news, as the reviews continue to build on Amazon, we finally received the final hardcover version of T4! Oh my gosh, it is so cool! I was inspecting every inch of it!

And a meme snagged from both dreamybritactor and mzbehavin65:

1. One movie that made you laugh: Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story

2. One movie that made you cry: Titanic. Like a freaking little baby, and every time I watch it, too.

3. One movie you loved when you were a child: Anything Disney, really. I guess one of my very favorites was their version of Robin Hood, the animated one with the animals!

4. One movie you’ve seen more than once: Many! But let's do which movie I've seen the most, and that would be Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back!

5. One movie you loved, but were embarrassed to admit it: Heh, I basically have no shame, so it's pretty hard for me to be embarrassed by anything I could admit to. But maybe I'll choose the one that others are embarrassed by my liking, ha! And that'd be Daredevil: The Director's Cut.

6. One movie you didn't like: Pan's Labyrinth. Seriously. It made me feel gross all over by the end. In the immortal words of may_child, "It's just...nasty."

7. One movie that scared you: Night of the Living Dead, the original.

8. One movie that bored you: The Ruins. Jonathan Tucker and Joe Anderson, even your fabulous performances could not save this bowser!

9. One movie that made you happy: Ratatouille.

10. One movie that made you miserable: Waitress. It made me happy to begin with, but then the character of the husband was in it more and more and was just so disgusting and then she didn't even hook up with Nathan Fillion at the end! Pneh.

11. One movie you weren’t brave enough to see: Saw. James Wan just gives me the heebies! I've never seen Death Sentence either, despite the enticement of Garrett Hedlund!

12. One movie character you’ve fallen in love with: Indiana Jones.

13. The last movie you saw: In the theater, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. On DVD, The Orphanage.

14. The next movie you hope to see: I really want to see Pineapple Express but I don't know if that's going to happen. And they moved Harry Potter back to next summer, so I dunno. Whatever catches my fancy and I have money to pay for a ticket at the same time. On DVD, we just rented Amazing grace which my Horatian friends will be shocked and horrified to hear that I haven't seen yet. So I'm hoping to watch that. XP

Peace, Ghani

( On Shia love )

( Random dialogue on the hottness of Shia and director Edgar Wright )

( On Disturbia which will lead into the state of female characters in horror and the boy next door syndrome )

( And no rant would be complete without something about Ratner )

Peace, Ghani

From thefridayfive:

1. If you were going to remake a movie, what would it be and who would you cast in the roles?

I Walked with a Zombie would be an awful lot of fun (a quick search on IMDb.com shows a remake is already in pre-production. Sigh, is nothing sacred?!). I think I'd put Rosamund Pike or Bryce Dallas Howard as Betsy. Depending on which of those two I'd pick, my romantic lead Pauls would be very different: Josh Lucas for Bryce Dallas Howard (more swagger), and Aaron Eckhart for Rosamund Pike (more sublety, though Bryce could be with Aaron as well). For alcoholic brother Wesley, I'm thinking Nick Stahl (who'd suit both Pauls), and Mrs. Holland would have to be one of those grand English actresses, leaning towards Dame Judi Dench. For catatonic, sort-of erstwhile wife Jessica, how about the ethereally beautiful Vera Farmiga. Or Saffron Burrows, who I've just seen play a put upon, sort of cracked wife. Yes, yes I have given this a lot of thought.

2. If you could turn a book into a movie, what would it be and who would you cast in the roles?

Beat to Quarters! But all my Horatian friends knew I'd say that, and it's the predictable answer. Cast: All the existing roles to the actors who played them in the A&E series, and Jessica Brooks for Lady Barbara. And how about Sir Anthony Hopkins as El Supremo. Okay, odd casting, I know, but it'd be fun!

3. If you were going to turn a video game into a movie, what would it be? Would it be animated or live-action?

Most of my favorite games already have been, and crappily so I might add. I'd love to see Tomb Raider done right; same with Resident Evil. Maybe I'll go with Resident Evil 4 in particular, 'cause Leon hasn't made it onto the big screen yet and the game is awesome. A straight adaptation of Code: Veronica would be great, too. Live action all the way.

4. You're going to turn a book into a TV series. What is it? Why would it make a good TV show?

Many of the fantasy franchises would do well as series. Tamora Pierce's Song of the Lioness or McCaffrey's Dragon Riders of Pern. Fantasy stories are just so long and involving, they have trouble getting adapted into movies; a show would be allowed to explore more. They usually have their own universes that are barely even touched upon in other adaptations, and could be worked in a series without even using the storylines from the books, but their general ideas and worlds.

5. Do you generally prefer the movie versions or the novel versions of works?

Um, not sure what that means, but if it's do I prefer adaptations to their source material, the answer would be depends on the adaptation and the source material.

From fannish5:

Name 5 remakes that never should have been made.

Now, I'm usually very easy going when it comes to remakes; I enjoy seeing what they'll do differently, how they'll interpret characters etc. Hell, I love the Dark Castle movies, especially House on Haunted Hill and Thir13en Ghosts. I thought The Hills Have Eyes was actually an improvement! I actually liked the Psycho remake for God's sake! (Mmm, Viggo.) Some cross the line. Some weren't good movies to begin with. These cross one line or another.

1- Dawn of the Dead. Oh, where to start. Anyone reading my journal has seen me go off on this movie more than once. Dislikable characters (played by actors I like, so no bias there!), so-so direction, nothing innovative, original or particularly shocking or touching. The fast zombies seem hilarious if you think how long they're in the mall and how grotty they should be by the end of the movie; if they attempted a sprint, bits would be falling off left and right. Not to mention that they didn't even invent the fast zombie, so it's just more lifting and ripping off other innovative ideas. And the ideas behind it stagger me occasionally; lost is most of the social commentary, except for an odd litte bit with a tele-preacher saying it's the loss of America's moral dignity that's causing zombies, with no other ideas presented to counter so am I supposed to believe the dead are walking because of gays?! And that 'You want every last second'? No, you don't. Trust me on this. Okay, take a deep breath now, Jean. And to think Romero's own Land of the Dead was put down critically in favor of this drek.

2- The Haunting. Dear Lord, where to start. Okay, so, when you're doing another adaptation of a book, it's best to go back to the source material instead of looking at what you could change from the original movie. That's one of my biggest pet peeves. It shouldn't be a remake, but a new adaptation. It's not. Now, this is the movie that introduced me to Owen Wilson, Lily Taylor's performance is fab, and Liam Neeson's hot as always, and it's (barely) watchable, but as a fan of the book who was even dissatisfied with the original classic movie, yeah. It shtinks.

3- King Kong. Just don't go there with me. First hour, excellent. The rest, OMG, where are my cyanide capsules?!

4- Black Christmas. Why, Glen Morgan and James Wong? Why do you hurt when you used to love? Remember the totally awesome season of Millennium you did? The short-lived but excellent The Others? The movie was meh, but watching the specials and seeing how very seriously they took themselves just left me scratching my head with a bad taste in my mouth. How can these be the same people who produced such excellent hours of TV as Jose Chung's Doomsday Device and Somehow, Satan Gor Behind Me? Come to think of it, both of those were written by Darin Morgan. Let your brother write, Glen! And, you know, they also did the Willard remake, so two strikes against 'em!

5- Halloween. Okay, it hasn't even come out yet, but Rob Zombie is one of the absolute worst director's in the history of the world and the original is one of the scariest, perfectly done horror movies ever. As someone on IMDb.com put it, quiet simply: "Hell, no!" Rob Zombie sucks.

And special raspberries to Wes Craven for the remake of Carnival of Souls. It's only saving grace is that so few people know it exists.

Peace, Ghani

So, I've been watching a bunch in the past couple of months, me and Ann have seen a fair few new ones (not starring Nic Cage, believe it or not; that's its own post!) that I shall now comment on:

( For Your Consideration )

( Scoop )

( V for Vendetta )

( Hollywoodland )

C'mon, these are so real!

( The abs in question )

I spend my time thinking about things like this. I am a sad, strange little person. And bored and horny. Shrug.

Peace, Ghani