Audrey Hepburn - Vanity Fair May 2013

I have never read Vanity Fair in my life, but as soon as I saw Audrey on the cover, I had to buy it. She has been one of my favorite actresses ever since I first saw her in Charade. On top of that, she was a style icon and a great humanitarian.

Jurassic Park 3D

I have always been of the opinion that 3D movies (and games) are just a cheap gimmick. A fad that will eventually fade away. Hopefully someday soon.

However, I could not pass up the opportunity to see Jurassic Park in a theater again. I first saw it 20 years ago, during its original theatrical release, and I remember being completely in awe of it. Jurassic Park is what made me love dinosaurs and it's something that, to this day, I still hold dear in my heart. Now, seeing it again today in a theater after 20 years, I can say that those feelings haven't changed. I was overwhelmed by every aspect of the movie. The score, the acting, the cinematography, the DINOSAURS. It is all still so breathtaking and amazing to see come to life on a big screen. Steven Spielberg is a genius. No one else could have made this movie what it is. And all of the actors did a remarkable job. When I was younger, I watched every movie Joseph Mazzello ever made because he was such an incredibly talented actor, even at such a young age. And even now, he still is (as you can see in The Pacific). I don't think I need to say how perfect Sam Neill was in his role, I'm sure everyone already knows.

After all this time, Jurassic Park has not lost its magic. It is the type of film that can easily make a dinosaur enthusiast out of anyone, regardless of age. Seeing them come to life on screen is incredible. The raptors have always been my favorite dinosaurs in the movie, but there is no denying how iconic the scene with the T-rex is, as he takes that fence down with his giant claws and walks out onto the road. Also, watching Dr. Grant drape himself over a Triceratops, feeling it inhale and exhale, with a smile on his face, is enough to make me smile, as well. Because I would have the exact same expression if the roles were reversed.

Jurassic Park is one of the few movies that I can still watch over and over and never stop being amazed by it. It will always be one of my favorite films and I am so happy that they decided to give it a rerelease, even if it is in 3D. And to be honest, it was VERY well done. There were not just a few 3D effects scattered throughout the movie, the entire thing was redone. The standout scene, for me, was when Tim is stuck inside the car after it falls into the tree. Each branch extends out from the screen and it looks great.

That being said, I did have a few issues with it. The one Jurassic Park-specific issue I had is that they didn't really utilize 3D in the scenes with the T-rex. When it is chasing the jeep, the would have been the perfect scene to throw some 3D effects in and they really didn't. They did make great use of the raptors later on though.

All my other complaints are about 3D in general. The glasses distributed did not fit well over my own glasses and it was uncomfortable to wear them because of it. Most scenes that included 3D effects seemed very out of focus and I felt as if I had to squint my eyes to see more clearly, but of course, that didn't make the images any sharper. It was very difficult for me to look at because it bothered my eyes so much. All in all though, the movie looked amazing and if you get a chance to see it in 3D, you really should. Even just to see it in a theater setting again.

I do not even know where to start with Silent Hill Revelation. Should I talk about how bored I was through 90% of it? No? Okay. Then let's start by discussing the plot because I guess it's important to mention what this movie is about, even when it really isn't about much of anything.

Silent Hill Revelation is inspired by the events in Silent Hill 3 (you know, it's a video game). Except...It's not. I can't explain the differences without giving away spoilers for either the movie or the game, so if you are really curious, go look up a plot synopsis for the game and I'll tell you what the movie is about. Members of a cult are searching for Heather, for reasons I won't even begin to explain here, and they kidnap her father so that she will go to Silent Hill to find him.

The movie follows the game enough to irritate fans of Silent Hill 3 with its inconsistencies and confuse people who have never played the games so that they cannot put together what is going on. I have never understood why people take so many liberties when making movies based on video games. Why bother if you are not going to stay true to the source material? It is not like this movie was just inspired by the Silent Hill mythos, it is clearly based on Silent Hill 3. And they could not have changed the storyline to make it more understandable to people who have not played the games because if anything, the movie makes even less sense.

I will give them credit where it is due. They did a nice job of showing the relationship between Heather and Harry and the Lakeside amusement park segments stayed close to what was depicted in the game. It would have been nice to see the Borley Haunted Mansion included, but it's not as if that is relevant to the plot, it is just a fun (terrifying) little section from the game. The soundtrack was great, but that should go without saying.

There was also this exchange, which is probably the only part of the movie that is even worth noting. When prompted to share information about herself with her new classmates, Heather says, "Let me make this easier for you. This is the fifth school I've been to since I was eleven. Me and my dad, we move around. So I do this. A lot. So don't bother trying to remember my name because I'm sure as hell not going to remember yours. Don't talk to me, we won't be friends. I won't IM you, or Facebook you or tweet you. Read your blog. And whatever you're thinking of saying or doing, don't bother because I've seen it before and I'm just guessing here, but I don't think there are too many original thinkers in this room. And by the time any of you have found out anything about me that's worth knowing, I'll have moved on." Vincent is then asked to introduce himself, to which he replies, "Are you kidding me? I can't follow that."

As for the negatives? Well. The whole movie is basically one long negative. I constantly found myself wondering when it would be over because it did not hold my interest at all. Again, they changed the story for no reason other than the fact that they thought they could. The ending was anticlimactic, even with its references to other games in the series. But there is one semi-major issue I had and a MAJOR, world-ending issue I had.

The semi-major issue was Pyramid Head. He makes another useless appearance as if he's the only important enemy who has ever been in this series. They don't even explain why he's there, what he signifies or where he came from to begin with. People who haven't played the games probably wonder why he is there and it is never explained in either movie. They just include him because he "looks cool" and they assume the fans want to see him.

My biggest issue was Vincent. If you don't already know, Vincent is my favorite character from the entire series. He is a villain who is in NO WAY a teenage love interest for Heather. He's not even kind to her, he plays mind games with her to make her think she is killing people rather than monsters. In the movie [SPOILERS], Vincent is still part of the cult, but he is clearly not the same character he was in the game. Why even include a character named Vincent in a movie clearly based on Silent Hill 3 then? Just create a new character for Heather's unnecessary love interest. I do not understand what their reasoning was, but as a huge fan of the series and that character, it annoys me more than anything else they have done in either movie.

Still, I don't hate Silent Hill Revelation as much as some other people seem to. It is definitely not the worst video game inspired movie I have seen, but I'm not impressed. I want to see a  fan made movie because they seem to be the only people who know how to handle it properly.

For example:

Resident Evil: Retribution

This review contains some spoilers for Resident Evil: Retribution.

What I am about to say will make it seem like I am tearing Resident Evil: Retribution apart. So before I start, I would like to make it clear that this is not the most awful movie ever made. (House of the Dead still has that "honor.")

Retribution started off really well. It appears as if Alice wakes up in a world devoid of zombies. She is married to Carlos, has a daughter. It's. All. Very. Normal. And you know what that means. This is not what it seems. These people are not really Alice or Carlos. They are more clones being tested by Umbrella and things are about to get very bad for them.

Umbrella has simulation rooms set up all over their headquarters, designed to look like New York, Tokyo, Moscow and Raccoon City, featuring many different enemies. The entire movie focuses on Alice (the real one) attempting to escape with the help of Ada Wong and, of all people, Albert Wesker. Wesker tells Alice that the Red Queen is on a mission to destroy humanity and he is basically her only hope of making it out alive. Where do I even start...

AI is scary. I am sure we have all seen enough movies and played enough video games to know that you can never really trust it. Even so, I cannot understand why the Red Queen's goal now is to kill everyone on the planet when her initial goal in the first film was to prevent the spread of infection. How does she even exist when her circuits were fried? I suppose there could be another Red Queen, but giving her the same name is misleading and they probably should have considered this while making the movie.

As for Wesker, he does not suffer from Nemesis syndrome, as other people have claimed he does. While it is true that he does appear to help Alice escape from Umbrella HQ, his reasons are purely selfish. I do not believe his game counterpart would ever have enlisted help from any of his enemies, regardless of how desperately he needed it, but I think we all realize by now that when it comes to these movies, all bets are off.

Someone on IMDB called Retribution "Resident Evil All Stars." That is accurate. And not in a good way.

Ada, Leon and Barry were all unnecessary to the plot. If they had been cut out, it would have been the same film, just with less characters running around for no real reason. I am a fan of the games first, but these characters served almost no purpose in the movie. They are fan service. I would rather see them excluded than wasted. I think the inclusion of Barry was the worst, since he has no ties to Leon in any of the games (unless you really want to include Gaiden) and that is who he is working with.

Chris and Claire are nowhere to be found this time around, which is a good thing because Jill, Leon, Barry and Ada were poorly written (or barely even utilized at all). At least they escaped this film.

 I do not mind a unique take on the series involving new characters, but when you bring in established characters and make them barely recognizable, it is a problem. There is no point to it.

Many enemies are included in Resident Evil: Retribution, most of which we have seen in the previous films. There are incredibly fast zombies in the Raccoon City simulation, but after that, they disappear in favor of the Plagas (who do not translate well to film, they look ridiculous). If you have played Resident Evil 5, you already know that Plagas are smarter than zombies. They drive cars, ride motorcycles and they will shoot you with whatever they can get their hands on, whether it is an SMG or an RPG. Also included from RE5 is the Executioner (who I mistakenly thought was the Bogeyman from Silent Hill Downpour, I forgot what I was watching for a moment) and the Chainsaw Ganado from RE4/RE5. The "big bad" is a giant super-licker, bigger than any enemy I remember seeing in the films before. And of course, there are also the clones of Carlos, One and Rain, led by a mind-controlled Jill Valentine.

There are a lot of references to the games that could leave people lost if they have never played them (where did the new enemies come from?) and a lot of additions from the games that will leave people who HAVE played them wondering why they bothered to include them. Everything happens too fast, the movie feels rushed and it suffers because of it.

Look at where the first film started and where we are now. The plot is so convoluted I do not even know what is going on anymore. The first movie had its flaws, but I genuinely enjoyed it. Now I feel like things are being made up as they go along just for the sake of dragging out the series and making more money. It could have been planned better.

Overall, Retribution was entertaining enough. I was not bored watching it. Maybe I am used to how bad the movies are, maybe my  expectations are lower. Maybe I am just beyond caring at this point. It was not the worst movie I have seen in this series, but it is still far from good.

What makes Darkness Falls so scary?

I had an epiphany last night while I was in bed, unable to fall asleep after listening to one of the stories on Pseudopod. A complete "Aha!" moment that made me feel validated in what I had assumed was an irrational fear for years.

Let me start by saying that plenty of movies scared me as a child. Every time I watched Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, I thought the movie would change and Talbot (in wolf form) would finally catch Wilbur in the woods. The Tingler terrified me. The thought that not being able to scream, being paralyzed with fear, could lead to death...That's frightening. And let's not forget dolls. Anything involving dolls would prevent me from sleeping. I had a recurring nightmare about them after watching an episode of The Twilight Zone. They would walk from the kitchen, through the living room, to my bedroom. Hundreds of them. I can only assume they intended to kill me, based on the fear I felt when I woke up. I think I had that nightmare almost every night when I was seven years old. (I still remember it vividly, along with another recurring nightmare I had.)

But none of that compares to how unsettled I felt after watching Darkness Falls.

If you don't already know, Darkness Falls is about the Tooth Fairy. If you look at her on the night when she comes to take your last baby tooth, she will kill you. And if she doesn't kill you, she will stalk you all your adult life until she gets another opportunity to get the job done. The only thing that can protect you is staying in the light.

It sounds pretty ridiculous, right? It is. And yet, I spent years sleeping with the covers over my head so that if I opened my eyes in the middle of the night, I wouldn't see something I wasn't meant to see. Keep in mind, I was not a child when I watched this movie. So why was I so afraid? Last night, I figured out the answer to that question.

Darkness Falls taps into that fear of waking up in the middle of the night to find an intruder in your bedroom. What would you do? If you pretend you are asleep, maybe they won't harm you. ("If I don't move, open my eyes or make any sound, they won't notice me." Like they are a Jurassic Park T-rex.) However, once they realize you are awake, it's all over. And I think, subconsciously, that is what really disturbed me about that film for so long. Not the idea of the Tooth Fairy (I even acknowledged, to myself, that the movie was terrible and being afraid of it was pathetic), but the idea of anyone catching you sneak a glance at them while they are invading your home and what that would mean for your safety.

I am not the only person who was afraid of this movie. Everyone I talked to agreed that it was horrifying and if it was ever brought up during a late night conversation, it was guaranteed to make us lose sleep. Now I understand why. The Tooth Fairy is not going to try to kill you while you are sleeping, it is not possible. Someone breaking into your house and attacking you in the middle of the night is not beyond the realm of possibility though. So well done, Darkness Falls. Even being one of the most ludicrous movies I have ever seen, you still managed to scare everyone I know.

If you have yet to watch this movie, you should. Late at night, with all the lights off. There's nothing to be afraid of, right?

Rock of Ages and Phantom of the Opera

I spent Tuesday and Wednesday in the city. This is how it all started.

Every time I'm in Times Square, I go straight to George M. I can't even think of Broadway without this man coming to mind, he's a huge part of its history. Hence the nickname "the man who owned Broadway."

Here's another picture of the George M. Cohan statue with the new (kind of new, anyway) Phantom of the Opera billboard in the background.

Tuesday started off with dinner at Ellen's Stardust Diner. It's the first time I've ever been there and not enjoyed it. Here's a tip, don't show up with only one other person. Essentially, what happens is you end up eating with a bunch of other parties of two. Everyone is right on top of each other and that is definitely not something I enjoy. It made it hard to concentrate on the waiters and waitresses singing because all I could think about is how I was pretty much sharing a table with strangers. The tables are not connected, but they're tiny and right next to each other. On one side of the table is a long booth/bench type of seat, and on the other side are chairs. You practically have to climb OVER the table to get to the booth seat because there is no room in between them, unless you pull the table out into the aisle.

I made a point of getting a better picture of Parsons this time. 

As a huge fan of Project Runway, I felt this was necessary.

I have this obsession with the billboards and lights in Times Square. It makes me feel like a tourist even though I'm not. There's just nothing like it and I'm always in awe of it all.

So when I see a billboard for something I love, of course I have to stop and take pictures of it. How can I possibly ignore Anything Goes?

On to the point of my outing to the city on Tuesday. I went to see Rock of Ages.

I am not a fan of 80's music by any means. With the exception of Journey, I don't care for many 80's bands. I do, however, love live theatre. It's always amazing to see all the work that goes into it. Rock of Ages did not disappoint me. It was actually a lot of fun.

The audience got very involved in the show. They were clapping along to the songs, almost like it was a concert. The lighting was incredible, probably the best I've seen in any Broadway production. That actually made it feel like a concert, as well...As did the people going back and forth to their seats with drinks. It was Tequila Tuesday and there was a bar right behind the last row. The problem with having a bar IN the theatre is that some people have a bit too much to drink. And then they get loud. And someone has to escort them out. Yes, that actually happened.

As for the show itself, it almost seemed like (for the first act, at least) they wrote a list of songs they wanted to use and then added a sentence or two between every few songs so that there would be some sort of dialogue. Like an afterthought because they had to.

Some of the humor was crass...I wasn't offended, but I don't find that sort of thing amusing, either. My favorite comedians were Abbott and Costello, I was raised watching their films and they were always very clean. I'm more of a fan of that type of comedy, I don't think you have to be dirty to be funny.

Rock of Ages breaks the fourth wall quite a bit. Most of the time, it didn't bother me. However, when Lonny handed Drew a playbill for the show, that took the joke too far.

 

The cast is really talented. I was pleasantly surprised. Dan Domenech, Jeremy Woodard and Emily Padgett all have great voices and I would love to see them in other shows in the future. Cody Scott Lancaster is the standout as Franz. And then...There's Josephine Rose Roberts who plays Regina. I actually had to look in the playbill because she reminded me so much of Diana Degarmo when she was playing Penny in Hairspray. (That's a good thing. I loved Diana in that role. And that's really saying something because I rarely ever think anyone is a good replacement for Kerry Butler.)

The finale song is the best part of the entire show. I don't want to ruin it for anyone who hasn't seen it, but it was so upbeat and the perfect way to end it.

If you're looking for something fun to see on Broadway, Rock of Ages is probably a good choice.

And now, having seen it, I have to wonder WHY Tom Cruise was cast as Stacee Jaxx in the movie. He's too old. I doubt he has the voice for it, judging by Jeremy Woodard's performance. Hollywood destroys musicals. 

Moving onto Wednesday.

Look what I found in the Hard Rock Cafe.

 

Luckily, there was an hour wait there so we went to dinner at Planet Hollywood instead. The first thing I noticed was this.

I love Jimmy Stewart, in case you didn't know.

That paled in comparison to what I saw next though.

 

THAT IS JAMES CAGNEY'S SUIT IN YANKEE DOODLE DANDY. James Cagney is my favorite actor. Yankee Doodle Dandy is my favorite movie. He plays George M. Cohan in it. It was one of those moments where I was awe-struck because...He wore that. That's as close as I will ever get to that incredibly talented man. He won an Oscar for his performance in that movie. (Well-deserved, mind you.) I never expect to stumble across anything related to James Cagney, so I was really happy to see his suit in Planet Hollywood.

After dinner, we went to Starbucks. I got a Cinnamon Dolce Frappuccino. There are tables in the middle of Times Square outside of Starbucks, and I've never taken the time to sit there before. I always walk through Times Square, and I've taken enough pictures of everything, but I never stop and take the time to really LOOK around and take it all in. It was beautiful. The weather was perfect, the sky was clear, and everything was illuminated.

 

You know I took pictures outside the Majestic. It doesn't matter that I already HAVE pictures of it, I constantly have to take new ones.

 

Inside, I took a picture of the stage. I actually took about ten pictures of the stage, but they all looked terrible. I'm going to blame it on the lighting.

 

The Overture will forever be my favorite part of Phantom of the Opera. When the orchestra is booming, the chandelier is coming to life and the theatre is going back in time and becoming pristine and beautiful once again. It sets the tone for the entire show and it's an experience that you just can't get from watching a video of it.

The cast, it goes without saying, was wonderful. As was the show itself. I think everyone knows how I feel about Phantom of the Opera, it's my favorite musical. The costumes are gorgeous, the songs are lovely, I don't need to elaborate on this subject again.

I will say for the 7,000th time that Hugh Panaro was perfect as the Phantom. He was just as perfect as the first time I saw him, in fact. The rest of the cast did very well, too. And Trista Moldovan nailed the Final Lair sequence. For me, that was her shining moment.

Speaking of the Final Lair. I had a huge, satisfied grin plastered on my face during that number. Words cannot even begin to describe how happy I was to see Phantom of the Opera again without having to look at those stairs they used in Phantom 25. "Christine, Christine...Let me see her..." Oh come on, Raoul. She's right there, there's no gate to stop you. But there WAS last night, and I've never been so happy to see it before in my life.

There was something I noticed at the end of the Final Lair, though. It seemed like Christine hesitated to leave the Phantom after she returned his ring. I could have imagined it because of Phantom 25. I hope it wasn't intentional.

Afterwards, I went to the back door (it's around the block) to wait and see if Hugh would come out since he didn't last time. He did not. The only cast member who did was Trista, and she was very nice.

 

On the way back to Penn Station, right near the door I waited at for an hour before anyone came and told everyone that Hugh would not be coming out (I don't blame Hugh, I'm sure he was tired or had plans and that's completely understandable), I found a sign at the theatre where Kerry Butler's new show is going to be. I didn't have time to take a picture of it though because I had to [practically] run to catch my train.

Overall, it was a fun, tiring two days.

I didn't want three movies, I wanted one movie

See this?

I had to buy a set of three movies in order to get the ONE I wanted (Dragonwyck). I've never heard of the other two and I don't have an interest in seeing them. I'm so frustrated by the fact that Dragonwyck isn't sold individually that I uploaded it on Viddler tonight because it's an amazing movie and people should be able to see it without having to buy movies they don't really want to see.

I just finished reading Dragonwyck by Anya Seton the other day. It was really, really good. Better than the movie. The story was changed quite a bit for the film, especially the ending. That doesn't take away from how beautiful the movie itself is though. I love black and white films and the use of shadow in them. And there's also the fact that Vincent Price is in it, which is the reason I watched Dragonwyck to begin with. I grew up watching his movies...I can't even remember a time when I didn't know who he was. He was so charismatic and handsome, and truly a fine actor. Dragonwyck is the perfect example of how talented he was.

There was no way to narrow this list down

I love movies. Not in an "Oh, this is a great way to kill time!" kind of way. I love the stories. The cinematography. The acting. The soundtracks. All the hard work that goes into them. I love them for many different reasons. And because I find so much to love about the movies I enjoy, it's really difficult to narrow my favorites down to a Top Five list. I had trouble just getting it down to a Top Fifteen, to be honest.

What's on my bookcase?

First things first, try to ignore the glare. :)

The only reason I took these pictures is because I feel like what's on my bookcase gives a clearer idea of what I like than anything else would. These are the movies and books I enjoy most. All the other DVDs and books that wouldn't fit in there are stored somewhere else (or are on my desk, as is the case with my makeup book and the Dinosauria.)

And, I DO own the first season of Supernatural, but my father has been "borrowing" it for the past two years. Which means it's collecting dust in his house somewhere.

Also, the book whose title you cannot see (but whose pages are clearly visible on top of my games) is the Dinosaur Comics book. The book next to An Abundance of Katherines is The Picture of Dorian Gray. The playbill for Phantom of the Opera is stuck between Will Grayson, Will Grayson and Always Looking Up. Mana Khemia 2 is hidden behind The Hunger Games series because it came in a huge box and can't fit anywhere else. 13 Ghosts, House of Wax and House On Haunted Hill are the original movies, not the remakes. Except, technically, the Vincent Price version of House of Wax is a remake, but that DVD contains that one as well as the original.

SMT Devil Survivor 2, The Outsiders, The Buddy Holly Story, Nosferatu, The Holiday, Fear Itself

Are You Afraid of the Dark?, The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay, The Picture of Dorian Gray, An Abundance of Katherines, Paper Towns, Looking For Alaska, Will Grayson, Will grayson, Always Looking Up: The Adventures of an Incurable Optimist

Little Caesar, 27 Dresses, 13 Ghosts, 1408, 28 Days Later, 30 Days of Night, Best of Abbott and Costello Volume 1/2/4,  Abbott and Costello in Africa Screams/Jack and the Beanstalk, Abbott and Costello in Hollywood/Lost in a Harem, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, Adventureland, Aladdin, Alice in Wonderland, Back to the Future, Back to the Future 1/2/3, Battle Royale, The Beatles Anthology Part 1

Teenate Mutant Ninja Turtles 1/2/3/TMNT, The Beatles Help!, The Beatles Anthology Part 2/3/4/5, The Big Heat, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Cary Grant Screen Legend Collection, Casablanca, Confessions of a Shopaholic, Death Note, Death Note 2, Death Note: L Change the World, Fullmetal Alchemist: The Conqueror of Shamballa, Gilda, The Beatles A Hard Day's Night, Hot Fuzz, House of Wax/Mystery of the Wax Museum, House On Haunted Hill, Horror Hotel, In the Mouth of Madness, It's a Wonderful Life

Zombieland, Jurassic Park 1/2/3, Life is Beautiful, The Little Mermaid, The Loves of Carmen, Mister Roberts, The Monster Squad, Paul McCartney: Good Evening New York City, The Phantom of the Opera, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Pretty Poison, Psycho, Psycho 2/3/4, The Public Enemy, Kairo, The Roaring Twenties, Shaun of the Dead, The Shawshank Redemption, Silver Bullet, Singin' in the Rain, Suspiria

The Tingler, Toy Story, White Heat, Yankee Doodle Dandy, You Can't Take It With You, You Were Never Lovelier, You'll Never Get rich, Alfred Hitchcock Presents Season 1/2/3/4, Family Ties Season 1/2/3/4/5, Harper's Island, Nightmares and Dreamscapes

A Walk to Remember, Supernatural Season 2/3/4/5, Chip n Dale Rescue Rangers Volume 1, Daria Complete Series, Tiny Toon Adventures Season 1/Volume 1, Descendants of Darkness, Disgaea, Fullmetal Alchemist Season 1/2

That Thing You Do!, Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood Volume 1/2, Ouran High School Host Club, 3D Dot Game Heroes, Borderlands, Calling, Clock Tower 3, Condemned 2: Bloodshot, Cross Edge, Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop, Dead Space, Demon's Souls, Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness, Disgaea: Hour of Darkness, Disgaea Infinite, Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories, Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days, Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice, Disgaea DS

Dinosaur Comics, Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem, Eternal Poison, Fatal Frame, Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly, Fatal Frame 3: The Tormented, Fullmetal Alchemist 2: Curse of the Crimson Elixir, Guitar Hero 3, Haunting Ground, Heavy Rain, Kuon, Lights Out, Makai Kingdom, Mana Kehmia: Alchemist of Al-Revis, Mana Khemia: Student Alliance, Mega Man Anniversary Collection, Mojo, Motorstorm, Namco Museum 50th Anniversary

New Super Mario Bros. Wii, SMT Nocturne, Oblivion, Obscure: The Aftermath, Okami, Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, SMT Persona, SMT Persona 3,  SMT Persona 3 Portable, Persona 4, SMT Strange Journey, Phantom Brave: We Meet Again, Prinny: Can I Really Be the Hero?, Resident Evil, Resident Evil 0, Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 3: Nemesis

Dead Rising 2, Resident Evil 4, Resident Evil 5, Resident Evil Code: Veronica X, Silent Hill, Silent Hill 2, Silent Hill 2 (PC), Silent Hill 3, Silent Hill 4: The Room, Silent Hill: Homecoming, Silent Hill: Origins, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, Siren, Siren: New Translation, Super Paper Mario, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World, The Urbz, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Valkyria Chronicles, Wii Sports

Sleepers, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Giver, Disgaea 2 Volume 1/2, Disgaea, Smack, A Wrinkle In Times, Party Monster, No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous, The Outsiders, A Safe Place, Phantom of the Opera

Gentleman's Agreement, The Thin Man, The Big Knockover, World War Z, Lovecraft - Tales, The Zombie Survival Guide, Battle Royale, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Disgaea Strategy Guide, Disgaea 2 Strategy Guide, Disgaea 3 Strategy Guide, Descendants of Darkness Volume 11, Kana Flashcards, Demon's Souls Art Book, Kana Flashcards Audio Companion

Cagney, The World of Disgaea 2, SMT Persona 4 Art Book, Necronomicon, 501 Must See Movies, Japanese For Busy People, Japanese From Zero, The Abbott and Costello Story, Genki 1, Genki 1 Workbook, Vintage L.A., It's Only a Movie: Alfred Hitchcock, A Personal Biography, There Are Survivors: The Michael Cuccione Story

It's February and I'm editing this because I've changed things around a bit...It's still not organized. I separate everything by movies, TV shows and games (and books, but there are no new additions that are able to fit on the shelves), but I've yet to integrate these ones.

Beauty and the Beast, Center Stage, The Cure, Death to Smoochy, Little Monsters, Radio Flyer, Sleepers, Toy Story 3, Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 1/2/3, Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood Volume 3, Tales From the Cryptkeeper Season 1/2, Dead Space 2, Prinny 2

Just spent an hour and a half watching Resident Evil: Afterlife

And the only reason I did it was so that I could confirm my suspicions of how terrible it is to Ryan.

(There are no spoilers for Afterlife since it's new and I don't want to ruin it for anyone, it's bad enough to ruin itself for you. But there are spoilers for all the other movies, which everyone has probably seen by now if they were interested in them.)

The first movie...Was okay. Sure, it wasn't based on any particular Resident Evil game, but it still felt like it could fit into the RE universe. And Alice wasn't insanely overpowered. Yeah, there's that whole..Jumping off a wall and kicking dogs in the face thing, but she was probably trained to do that.

In every movie since that one, she's been WAY too powerful. And it's annoying. Look, I know Paul W.S. Anderson was sleeping with Milla Jovovich (and I'm assuming he still is since they have a kid together and they're married), but that doesn't give him an excuse to make the Resident Evil series center around a woman who never existed in any of the games. And to be honest, there's no place for super-human protagonists in this series, whether they're infected with the T-Virus or not. The games feature regular people trying to survive a zombie outbreak. They can't look at a security camera and make a man's eyes start bleeding.

And someone will probably say the movies don't have to follow the games, it's an original story, etc. If you've noticed, I said the first movie was fine. It's everything that came after it that's an issue.

We can start with Carlos. Oded Fehr is an attractive man, he was enjoyable to look at. And that's about it. Carlos...Was nothing like his Resident Evil 3 counterpart. Neither was Nicholai. If I recall correctly, Nicholai was awful in Resident Evil 3, yet for some reason, they decided to turn him into a decent human being in Resident Evil: Apocalypse. And I have to ask, why? Why not just give his character a different name? It doesn't make sense.

Then there's Jill. I never really cared about her one way or the other in the games, but she kind of struck me as a bit of a bitch in Apocalypse. (Sorry for the language, but she did.) She had a completely different personality. Why would you do that? Because Alice is the heroine of the movies and she's the only one who can be nice and perfect and save people? Again, I know you're sleeping with her, but enough is enough.

I can't even find the words to describe what happened to Claire. Chris and Claire are my two favorite Resident Evil characters, and what I saw in these movies was not Claire. Giving her red hair is not enough.

The biggest issue I've seen so far is Nemesis. Nemesis was sent to Raccoon City to destroy STARS members, which is why he's so hard to get rid of in Resident Evil 3, he chases Jill down constantly. But in RE: Apocalypse, for some reason, he was stalking Alice instead. That's not even the part that bothers me. What bothers me is that Nemesis actually HELPS Alice at the end of the movie. You can tell me that this is all fictional and Nemesis wouldn't do or not do something because he's not actually real, but the fact is, in the world of Resident Evil, there's no way that Nemesis is going to become an upstanding citizen. I should know, I was killed by him many, many times in Resident Evil 3. (I know, I know. He used to be Matt. Sorry, but I still don't buy it. Nemesis in the game used to be a human, too. That didn't give him a conscience though, did it?)

Paul W.S. Anderson took a lot of liberties when making these films. I have trouble understanding why he didn't just give them a different title and change the characters' names. They're completely unrecognizable from their counterparts in the games, anyway. It's a shame these films turned out the way they did, I know he's capable of making a decent movie. Event Horizon was great. (Sam Neill is in it. And when I played Dead Space, I immediately thought of that movie. That's a good thing, because Dead Space is incredible.)

I think the only way we'll ever get a decent video game movie (because let's face it, they're all terrible, including Silent Hill [just because it's the best out of all of them, that doesn't make it good]) is if a fan of the game actually makes it. Some low-budget, uploaded-on-YouTube-in-seven-parts movie. Something like this:

"They all want to be James Dean. I want to be James Cagney."

I really like Michael J. Fox. I love that quote. 

I'm watching Little Caesar...It reminds me of Sleepers. If you've seen Sleepers, you should know why. 

But anyway. I need to get an orange cat now. So I can name it Robinson and have all my little Warner Bros. gangster cats. Although, that's not the reason I named my cats Cagney and Bogart. 

Cagney was given her name because James Cagney was, in my opinion, the greatest actor ever. People think of him, and they think of Rocky Sullivan. Well, while Angels With Dirty Faces was an incredible movie, I think of James Cagney and Yankee Doodle Dandy comes to mind. 

The first movie I ever saw him in was Angels With Dirty Faces. I'd enjoyed old movies before that, but mostly just the ones starring Abbott and Costello and Vincent Price. AWDF sort of opened up the doors for me. I thought James Cagney was good in it, but I wasn't amazed or anything. The next movie I saw him in was White Heat, and it floored me. This scene in particular: 

I realized what an incredible actor he really was after watching that film. However, I didn't realize just how talented he really was until the next film I watched him in. Yankee Doodle Dandy. Cagney started out as a song and dance man, and you can see how much he loved making that movie. He was the perfect choice to play George M. Cohan. I believe Cohan said, "What an act to follow," after seeing the film himself. I wish Jack Warner had been smart enough to allow Cagney to make more musicals (he made only a handful while on contract at Warner Bros.), rather than throwing him into so many gangster roles, not that he didn't do an amazing job with every single role he had. 

The real proof of his talent is in Mister Roberts. I couldn't stand him by the time that movie was over, that's how well he did playing the captain. And just a note, The Strawberry Blonde is also a wonderful movie, and it doesn't get the attention it deserves. 

As for Humphrey Bogart, the first film I happened to see him in was also Angels With Dirty Faces, but he wasn't terribly important in that movie, so I didn't pay him much attention. The next film I saw him in also starred James Cagney (and of all the gangster movies Cagney made, it's my favorite), The Roaring Twenties. Again, he wasn't that important. 

I didn't particularly care for Bogart after the first two movies, I had no sympathy for the characters he played. Which is why when I was told to watch Dark Passage, I was a bit hesitant. He was decent in it, and I decided to give him another chance. This time, with the Maltese Falcon. That was the movie that did it for me. Bogart's version of Sam Spade is the reason that Spade is my favorite fictional character. Not only did that movie open me up to watching Bogart's other films (I'm sure I don't need to tell you I've seen Casablanca since then), but it introduced me to Dashiell Hammett who has since become one of my favorite writers. 

Now, it's nothing against Edward G. Robinson, but I've yet to find a movie that he's starred in that really caught my attention. I've seen him in Smart Money, Bullets or Ballots, A Slight Case of Murder, Brother Orchid, The Stranger (I don't blame the fact that this movie didn't impress me on him, I've never been able to sit through a movie Orson Welles has starred in yet, not even The Trial, and I love Anthony Perkins), and now, Little Caesar. So the fact that I want to name a cat after him has little to do with the work I've seen him do. But I'm always open to suggestions, if anyone has one.

In the Mouth of Madness

Movies generally don't scare me. Suspiria does, only because of the incredible soundtrack. And Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein used to scare me when I was little, because I always thought something was going to change during the scene in the woods with the wolfman, and that he would actually kill Wilbur. (Not that I would care if he got him now. I love Abbott and Costello as a comedy team, they were genius. But I'm not particularly fond of Lou. Bud was great, though.) So when I say that In the Mouth of Madness makes me lose sleep at night, it should be taken seriously. 

The film, as many people would agree, is mostly a tribute to H.P. Lovecraft's work, from the title (a play on Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness) right down to the Cthulhu cutouts you'll notice scattered throughout the movie. 

I'm going to try to explain this correctly...In the Mouth of Madness deals with mass hysteria/insanity. After reading books written by Sutter Cane (Stephen King, anyone?), fans of his work become violent and start going insane. Cane goes missing, and John Trent (played by Sam Neill, and I swear to God, that is NOT the only reason I love this movie) is hired to find him. His search leads him to a town called Hobb's End...It's the town Cane writes about in his books, and it doesn't exist on any map. And from there, you really start to see how Lovecraft's work inspired Michael De Luca while he was writing the screenplay. 

This may or may not be true, but you could also assume that Carpenter was making fun of the people who insist books, movies, music and video games are the reason that people commit violent crimes. 

In the Mouth of Madness, in its entirety, is on YouTube. But I would recommend buying it, as the DVD is incredibly cheap for some reason. I guess not many people have heard of it. (There's always the possibility that they're just not interested in it, but I imagine if more people knew of the movie, they would be interested in it.) 

After watching In the Mouth of Madness, you can go to the official website and take a look at what the books Cane wrote were about. No, they aren't real books. However, they're still worth seeing. Click on "The Feeding" first (Cthulhu shows up on the cover), as it explains why there are several scenes in the film where kids are chasing a dog. It's probably not a huge revelation, but it's nice to have your suspicions confirmed.