Amazon is having some kind of Sci-Fi Extravaganza or something, which means significant discounts on a lot of DVD collections, and if I don't stop myself I'm going to end up spending a ton of money. Kingdom Hospital and the original Kingdom? The Lost Room? Eureka? Augh.

I'm watching a movie called Dance of the Dead. It's exactly the kind of movie you think it is. There's a lot to love about it. You should watch it.

ETA: Okay, this movie was made for me. Ee hee hee. There was one point where I was like, "Oh noooo, you can't die like that!" and five minutes later, I was eating my words when they came up with a scene I haven't seen since Zombie College. If you don't find comedy and gore mutually exclusive, it's a winner.

I caught Watchmen at the matinee yesterday, and really, I'm the least qualified person to actually say whether it was good or not, since, as I mentioned to my sister yesterday, the pleasure centers of my brain lit up pretty much every time a piece of litter with "Gunga Diner" on it danced across the screen; I was squeeing at graffiti, for heaven's sake. I can't think of any real complaints that aren't complaints about how it deviated from the book, I think it did about the best job it could have done, and I enjoyed myself from start to finish. Plus it allowed me to get the real version into the hands of someone who's basically never read a comic before, so that to me is worth the transfer to celluloid a hundred times over.

Also, Bubastis! I strongly desire a plushie.

Today I slept late AND forgot to change the clocks, go me. On the other hand I managed to go shopping (including shoe shopping, which is notable: half the time my attempts to buy shoes end in tears) so I have new lamps, fresh batteries, dishwasher detergent, and an extra hour of sunlight per night in which to enjoy them. Not a wasted day.

My lime tree has flowered. This is very awesome.

Have you heard anything about this new movie Push? From what I can gather, it's about superpowered people hiding from a government agency that wants to either weaponize or exterminate them, I can't tell.

You guys know I'm all over that, and I love superpowers to the extent that I remember Jumper as an exhilarating good time*, but I have to ask--is that all? That plot's been around forever. It's not a hook. It's like seeing a romantic comedy advertised as "boy meets girl." Which, of course there's that. So you advertise as "neurotic boy meets free-spirited girl"** or "ugly boy meets hot girl"*** or "vampire boy meets codependent girl"**** or whatever. Is this movie seriously just superheroes running from the government? Isn't there anything unique about it?

*In the version of Jumper in my head, there is no female lead. It's just him and the British guy and Samuel L. Jackson, jumping.
**Along Came Polly
***Hitch
****Come on, you know this one

ETA: I've said this before, but first? Good gosh, get with it, The Sun! And honestly, I liked the kid in Hero, but that universe is not interesting enough to carry a series. Could be wrong, if the production staff is wicked-sharp, but I doubt it.

This year, for some reason I thought I'd write down all the books I read and movies I saw over the course of 2008. Somehow the lists actually turned out pretty complete. The number of novels I read was kind of depressingly low, but the graphic novels, man, I really racked up. So I'm going to list them here, in no particular order, and maybe make a best of/worst of post later.

I love discussing media, so if you have comments on any of these, totally leave them. Or if you know I saw/read something that's not on the list, let me know, because I got really lax about updating it in the fall.

( Books )

( Movies )

( Graphic novels )

I have no patience for middle-of-the-road horror movies; they've got to be great art, or glorious schlock. So when I was flipping through the Red Box rental thing and saw the description of Dark Floors as "starring members of the internationally successful heavy metal band" I just didn't bother to read any further, there was no way this was not going to be worth my dollar.

So I came home and threw it on, and about fifteen minutes in I was like, "You know, this is not half bad." And then I was like, "Holy cow...this is actually kind of creepy." And then I was like, "HOLY CRAP, WHY IS THERE A GUY DRESSED LIKE PREDATOR? AND A MUMMY? AND A DEMON WHO LOOKS LIKE HE'S IN A HEAVY METAL BAND?" Because folks, what I did not realize was that the "internationally successful heavy metal band" was Lordi, which is a band that always performs in monster costumes, and all the band members were playing themselves.

I didn't know that. It wasn't until after the movie ended, when I was like, "I can't believe that was that good. I wonder what was going on?" and looked it up, that I googled for Lordi and found out their shtick. And then I found out that they're the ones who did Hard Rock Hallelujah. I don't know if it's the maniacal screaming or that they're singing about the Arockalypse which will be the day of rockening, but that is just one of my favorite songs ever.

(And then I found out that the main character was in 28 Days Later, which is like the Ivy League of movies as far as I'm concerned. Bonus. Also, he was Older Peter in Prince Caspian!)

So what I'm saying is, my new favorite band is from Finland and bankrolls B-movies and has a minotaur on the bass. And honestly, I'm not sure whether that's something I never would have expected, or it's the obvious result of the entire trajectory of my life.

NaNoWriMo is almost upon us, so nanomojo is upon us too. Go and make merry.

I spent most of last week traveling (in the definition of "not being home") and this week I'm trying hard to get my life back in order, even get ahead of the curve (see previous paragraph). It doesn't help that this is the time of year when I'm perpetually cold. The Daylight Savings Time shift IS going to help, though. Now if my library requests come in tonight, I'm golden.

Media I Have Recently Consumed:

-Beetlejuice (movie): Boy, it's been a while. It's weirder than I remembered.

-To Kill A Mockingbird (book): I got a neat copy at the library book sale (hey...it might be a late first edition) and since kalquessa was raving over it, decided I should finally get around to reading it. Two thumbs up.

-London Calling (book): Very meh, thick with exposition in the time-travel passages, featuring the three most eloquent thirteen-year-old IMers in history. Guys, I'm a grammar glutton and even I don't bother to punctuate on IM.

-Danse Macabre (book): Stephen King's nonfiction analysis of the horror genre. I'm this close to finishing it. I'd really like to see an update--to get his opinion on the torture-porn trend of Saw and Hostel, the you-are-there trend of Blair Witch and Cloverfield, and the fast zombies of 28 Days Later and Resident Evil. It would be neat to see his take on horror-themed video games. I wonder if he'd like to revisit his views on superheroes, now that they've been thoroughly deconstructed, and whether he'd want to change his comments on TV in the post-LOST era. I wonder if he'd still spend the last section on literature worshiping at the shrine of Harlan Ellison. I'd like to see him include some material that he produced after learning that school shootings have been connected to his novella Rage. Overall, though, I really loved it, especially the first part dealing with horror themes.

-Cycle of the Werewolf (book): Boy, is this thing short.

And a couple of short stories compilations. I am nuts about short story compilations.

I guess I should post occasionally, yeah?

I spent the weekend at home, cooking mostly, and hanging out with my brother and our grandmother. Very nice.

I'm prepping for NaNo, and have been reading horror stories--the two are only tangentially related. I've also learned that I'm deeply annoyed by Clive Barker. Dracula 2000, on the other hand, inspired in me a lot of giddy glee, especially when I started realizing that I recognized practically everyone. ("Oh, that's Tess of the D'Ubervilles! That's the Phantom of the Opera! That guy's on House! That guy was in Hackers!") I reserve the right to enjoy awful movies, when appropriate.

New discovery: The commentary track on The Descent is wildly funny, while the movie is wildly scary.

I'm running at the mouth (keyboard) and playing a lot of Runescape. That means I'm gearing up to start writing again.

You guys, I just stumbled onto The Crow on channel 22 and I am loving everything about this movie.

ETA: Everything.

ISO: Movies about the Blitz.

Anyone?

The Dark Knight script is online. Who wants to audition for a totally unauthorized gender-reversed audio performance?

ETA: From GChat:

amberdulen: I don't know how we're going to get Bats
tahmthelame: someone is going to have to eat some sandpaper

I have seen The Dark Knight! If you have, and I know you have because the whole world saw it before I did, post a link to your relevant LJ post so I can see what everyone thought without going through a month of archives.

My own observations to follow, if I'm not too busy over lunch.

I've been in kind of a weird funk for a month; I'm not sure whether to blame this project at work, my renewed caffeine intake, a thicker TV schedule, bipolar weather, or what have you, but I would love to be snapping out of it soon.

( Whining )

Whatever.

Instead of going to the cheapies I went to Mike's house to watch A History of Violence which was excellent except for the gratuitously-shown sex and violence. They weren't gratuitous in themselves; it was all intrinsic and important to the characters' relationships, the story, and so on. I just don't need to see a guy with his jaw shot off to know that shooting a man in the head is a horrible act of violence. I don't need a play-by-play visual of a quickie to understand the many conflicting elements that cause it and result from it. (This is the only exception I've seen to the rule that all sex scenes are gratuitous: it was an efficient, powerful way to show the change in the couple's marriage.) It just didn't need to be as graphic as it was.

Presumably it was made that way because someone disagrees with me and wanted it to be as graphic as possible. That's frustrating.

Anyway, if they ever show it edited for TV, it's totally worth watching.

Suddenly our cheap theater is overflowing with questionably good movies, all of which I was planning to see once they only cost 99 cents. Here are the choices:

The Happening
The Incredible Hulk
The Strangers
Speed Racer
The Forbidden Kingdom

I'm completely torn. I guess it'll probably come down to what I'm in the mood for around 9:30 tonight, but any recommendations?

If it's wrong to watch Resident Evil while making cherry jam, then I don't want to be right.

"Cowboys vs. Aliens" : ...a DreamWorks/Universal sci-fi western in which warring Apaches and cowboys set aside their squabbles to hound some extraterrestrials out of town. Downey Jr will play a former sharp-shooter in wild west-era Silver City, Arizona; Ron Howard and Steven Spielberg are taking on producer duties.

Someone catch me while I swoon. Right now I think I want to see cowboys fighting aliens more than almost anything on earth.

I liked Jumper, and even I think this is a bad idea.

I went to Jumper last night. Guys, don't listen to the haters. It's fast, it's pretty, it's got a wicked awesome super power and Samuel L. Jackson is the bad guy. The powers keep getting cooler, Hayden's hair is not stupid-looking, Jamie Bell is wonderful and it's only an hour and a half long! No idea why it's getting trashed so hard in the reviews. I had a great time.

Regarding Whiskey Lake: I'll be in an out all day but should be able to check in every few hours at least. Just drop by when you can, players.

Okay! So this week has been a little nuts, and I've been writing out LJ posts only to let them fester in .txt files. So I have decided to put them all in one big long stupid post. Here they are!

1. ( Reading and Review of Perry Moore's 'Hero' )

2. ( Movies and review of Doomsday )

3. I'm running another CSI: Supernatural-type game tomorrow, Saturday, April 5. All are welcome. General guidelines here. Previous game here. Got questions? Leave comments.

4. Dear scionofgrace,
I don't really know how to tell you this, but you're a pervert. I think I realized it when I quoted Santa in your closet and I saw you ignore my mustard soufflé. I'm sure you're frostbitten enough to understand that Santa doesn't exist. I'm returning your ring to you, but I'll keep your photo as a memory. You should also know that I get sick when I think of a new life as a clone.
Greetings to your frog Leonard,
amberdulen

( Yeah, you want details? I'll give you details. )

5. susan_schmid is running an interesting meme on your favorite SFF tropes. Difficulty: You can only use Tolkein and Lewis once each. ( My answers, subject to change as I think of others, plus some thinkin's. )

5. I finally wrote an "issue I care about" post for ladyarkham. ( Cut for possibly surprising answer, plus why I am a moral peasant. )

6. Did I have a number six?

7. I am working on another one of those "hook your LJ friends up with other LJ friends" lists, so if you have a preference of the kind of people you'd like to be introduced to, speak up now.

8. That'll do for now.