Bethany

Norman, Oklahoma, UNITED STATES


Joined March 28th 2008

Number of Posts:
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Apologies and Vincent Price

October 25th 2008 15:08
We recently had someone suddenly move in with us, and the time I would have spent here has been spent with her, or my step-dad who's suddenly in poor health. I really appreciate everyone who stops by on a regular basis.

On a far less serious note, I wanted to talk about Vincent Price. One of the things I bought for myself was a Vincent Price movie collection, it's got 6 different movies, all of them the kind of delightfully cheesy horror movies- The Abominable Dr. Phibes and Theater of Blood, for example.

And all of Vincent Price's characters were so charismatic- he had this gift of making a guy both truly evil and accessible, making you want to know him. I've watched a lot of these movies, sometimes I'll get lucky and a channel will run all his old movies- I'm gonna have a Halloween party, and we're going to have a Vincent Price fest.

If, somehow, you've never seen a Vincent Price movie, there's a few that I could recommend that you try first. I saw him in all sorts of things as a kid, he's been in Columbo and he was in Mission Impossible, he was in the very beginning of Edward Scissorhands, so I likely saw him once or twice. But my real introduction to him was the movie House on Haunted Hill, which I saw on VHS having been recorded off of TV. Ah, the days of VHS, eh?

He's done some more serious work, as well- I've heard Laura is his best work, but I haven't been able to get hold of that film. Some of these older ones, they haven't turned them into DVD's yet, and the ones that are DVD's you have to hunt down online, just about.

Masque of the Red Death is a good introduction to Vincent Price in what Stephen King once labeled 'Poe-pictures'. If you've read a lot of Edgar Allen Poe- and believe me, I have- you'll be interested to see how many different stories they pluck plots from and combine in the Poe-Pictures. Masque of the Red Death is a good example of this particular habit, and it's as good a start as any of them. Tales of Terror and Twice Told Tales are also a good way to dip your toe in, I think, but I have an absurd fondness for short stories and films. Keep an eye out, in the first Tales of Terror, for a story called Black Cat. It combines the Edgar Allen Poe story of Black Cat with Cask of Amontillado, and it's one of my favorites from that set of shorts.


Once again, I apologize to those who read regularly who keep checking in to find out I haven't done anything. Things are starting to settle down, and I'm hoping to get a lot more done. I've got a back log of movies I was going to watch this month, so I'll probably be talking about horror for a while yet.
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Curse of Alcatraz

October 7th 2008 01:25
Oh, I love Chiller. It's the 'horror movie-only' channel I get through cable, and it has led me to some wondrously bad movies. Unfortunately, Curse of Alcatraz isn't wondrously bad, it's just plain bad.

body is found in an unfinished cell on Alcatraz Island, in the museum that was once a prison. The guard who calls in the discover, the head of the guards, pricks his finger on the sharpened tooth of the skull (and that's an important plot point, which is highlighted in a very film 101 sense).

After a forensics expert (and The Bitch of the show) determines that the body is, likely, too old to be under her jurisdiction she calls an archaeologist (or perhaps anthropology?) professor to help her out. He brings along his crew of miscreants, post-grads who study under him, and we have our usual archetypes. The Bad Boy, the Slutty Girl, the Nice and Smart Guy, and the Survivor Girl. There might actually have been three girls. I'm not all too clear on that.

Anyway, after that Weird Shit proceeds to happen. All centered around the guard.

So, issues.

1: The professor, when asked his professional opinion, demurs to his student (Survivor Girl). While learning is a good thing, when giving a police officer a report, it is probably best to remain with the leading expert. A rookie involved will just cause problems if they make a mistake. It's a stretch, but I suppose it could happen.

2: A post-grad archaeologist freaks out and screams like a five-year-old when a bug comes off the dead body. I'm sorry, this might just be me, but I can't see it. It's done for a cheap scare- a jump-go-boo kind, and it doesn't work at all. I didn't buy it.

3: The professor seems to know NOTHING about the Indian and the tribe involved, or the legend. Although it's possible that a professor of archaeology hasn't heard of an obscure Indian tribe in specific, I wonder that he has never heard a THING about it. But his Native American student (the Survivor Girl) happens to know ALL about them. Not just a legend they do some research on, not just the name and some vague details. She knows A LOT.

4: They get stuck on the island. Can't do anything about it. ...what? This was set in 2007, they all had cell phones (which didn't work inside the prison). If the Mythbusters can arrange to row from Alcatraz in a boat made out of raincoats to prove a point (with several boats in tow), surely some guy in a fishing boat can manage to get out there and get them back on land. And why can't the ferry get out there? The reason they gave held up about as well as wet tissue paper. And how did the students get OUT there if the ferry was not able to go?

5: The professor finds out about the guard, whose finger was pricked on the corpse. Because I know there are archaeologists who don't shave for fear of picking up disease in the air through cuts on their face, I'm pretty sure the Professor didn't show enough concern.

The acting ain't great, the script seems tired and the beginning is quite slow. Snooze-fest.

The thing is tired, but it WAS the last film to be filmed on Alcatraz- although if that holds up for forty years or so, then it might have some historical significance. Right now, that could easily change. So watch it if for some reason you feel, historically, you must.
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The Ring (and my first date)

October 1st 2008 01:14
We were supposed to go catch this special anime show that had come through the movie theater, but on the night we decided to go, it was out.

He was taller than me, black. His name was Michael, we were in chemistry together. We looked at each other, looked at the movies that were available, and the one that was coming on soon was The Ring. He bought the tickets (I'm pretty sure) and we went and sat down.

I loved the music, and it was the first thing I really noticed. I thought the way the movie was shot was really beautiful, and I was genuinely creeped out.

The movie starts with two girls, Katie and Becca, being teenage girls. Gossiping, talking about a fun weekend, and discussing a video- a video that when you watch it, you have seven days to live. Katie reveals that she's seen this movie, nearly seven days ago.

Unsurprisingly, she is killed.

Cue Rachel Kellar and her son, Aidan. Katie was Rachel's niece, and Rachel (a reporter) begins to look into it. She watches the tape and gets the inevitable creepy phone call, but so does Aidan's father (her ex) and Aidan himself. That's when things become intense.

Rachel scrambles to find out who made the tape and how to prevent her son from dying.

It's really a very simple plot device, probably based off of those 'pass this on to ten people in two days or you die' chain letter you get in your inbox.

At the time I found the movie moody, and driving home I was checking my rearview mirror. I was also thankful that I didn't sleep in a room with a television.

I've watched it several times since, and it still holds up as a pretty damned scary movie. The scene, the one everyone talks about, where Samara crawls out of the television set- if I think about it too much, I get wigged.

I think it was a good movie, and it's a good kick off for my favorite month of the year.
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Bangkok Dangerous

September 26th 2008 01:57
Oh, this movie started out so well.

Bangkok Dangerous is a movie about an assassin who does everything by the rules, leaving no trace (except he has a bad habit of not wearing gloves whilst handling weapons, which means he's leaving fingerprints behind) and caring about nobody


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Mr. & Mrs. Smith

September 24th 2008 17:11
I am currently combing my shelves and I really wanted to talk about this movie before October really gets here. Anybody who reads regularly knows I have a thing for horror, and although I'm trying to get away from that a little bit... when October comes, I'm probably gonna do a lot of horror. Halloween is my favorite time of year.

Mr. & Mrs. Smith is a movie about a couple, John and Jane Smith (it'd only be better if they were named Doe), who are having marriage problems. John Smith is played by Brad Pitt, and Jane played by Angelina. They're both bored, and the marriage is definitely on the rocks. Part of it is because secretly, they're both well-paid assassins


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I've been tossing around whether or not I should talk about this for a while now, because I like this trilogy. Really I do. But I kind of... don't. It's tricky. So I plan to ramble for a while.

Because I don't want to be a spoil-sport, I'm discussing the whole trilogy including pertinent plot points. If you still haven't seen them, then you want to avoid this


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xXx and other Vin Diesel Movies

September 17th 2008 18:02
I know it gets a lot of flack, but I find this movie... entertaining. It's nor more/less lame than any of the older Bond movies (in fact, that's the point). Same cheesy and impossible action sequences, a plot that doesn't make much sense on reflection, really bad bad-guys, sexy co-star (Asia Argento!)... I don't think it's a good movie, mind, just entertaining.

Of course, I feel the same about Die Another Day


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A Phantom Birthday Quickie

September 14th 2008 02:37
So, part of my early birthday present was to go out and buy some cheap movies. One was XXX (the Vin Diesel movie), we bought The Grudge, Resovoir Dogs, and Phantom of the Opera.

I watched Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera last night. When I finished, I started it over, and was up until 2 in the morning re-watching Phantom


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The Forbidden Kingdom: Not What I Thought

September 13th 2008 01:21
This movie just came out on DVD here (Tuesday, as a matter of fact) and we watched it. My boyfriend picked it up and we sat down and watched it- and maybe I missed this in the trailer, but we sat down expecting... something else. I guess we thought it was some kind of martial arts epic.

Michael Angarino stars as Jason Tripitikas, a dorky skinny white dude who's way into old Kung Fu movies. He goes to an old pawn shop run by Old Hop (Jackie Chan in make-up). While he's in the middle of getting his scrawny white ass roundly beaten by the gang of larger 'mean boys', he's knocked off a building... and into feudal Japan. Or something- I guess maybe it's the Forbidden Kingdom, it kind of reminded me of the Celestial Bureaucracy in the video game Jade Empire, if you've played that you probably get what I mean


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The very first review I did to for Orble was to talk about one of my favorite movies ever, The Princess Bride. Since then, I've been meaning to hit up a few other movies that I watched as a kid. I watched the Princess Bride often enough that I have it memorized. The same goes for another childhood favorite, Labyrinth.

Directed by Jim Henson, Labyrinth is a coming-of-age tale set around Sarah, a spoiled teenager who lives with her mother, step-father, and half-brother. The movie opens in the park, where Sarah is reciting lines from a favorite play- until she gets to the one that she always forgets. Sarah is played by a young Jennifer Connelly


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Recent Comments

Comment by Bethany
on The Meth Epidemic

October 9th 2008 04:14
As noble as the effort to get rid of meth is, I don't think putting the cold and flu pills behind the counter is going to help anything. For one thing, METH is illegal, and people still manage to get their hands on it.

It's sad, I've worked with a couple of meth addicts, and they are certainly the saddest.

Comment by Bethany
on Hey Jude, Hey Holmes

September 25th 2008 01:14
Kung-Fu Holmes?

*sigh*

Comment by Bethany
on xXx and other Vin Diesel Movies

September 18th 2008 05:14
Hey, John- that works.

My fondness for him is totally a guilty pleasure, and I won't even defend it as anything but. I just thought his career dip was kinda interesting.

I think he's a one trick pony, but I like watching him run his paces anyway- if that makes sense.

First of all... Howling 3: The MARSUPIALS? Really? I mean, that was a joke... right? Because the only thing less terrifying than the word marsupial is... I dunno, that's like Howling 3: the killer panda bears. Although I shouldn't laugh, I'm pretty sure there was a B-grade horror movie about shrews becoming giant and eating a town or something...


Er, anyway, I like a well-done discussion of any genre, so I'll have to catch this one. Also, I need to go buy a copy of Mad Max, I haven't seen that in AGES.

I'm probably part of the younger generation you're talking about, Bryn (an American of that generation, probably the worst of the breed) but not all of us are part of the cult of 'gotta have it now'. I'm perfectly content with the original Alien, (as well as it's sequels). If someone could recreate the feel of Alien with another movie- a spiritual remake, if you will- that'd be awesome.

If someone could take the original concept and feel and take it to the next level- superb.

But they'll do a slick remake and make lots of money off of it and the best you can hope for is that kids who are unenlightened through no fault of their own will go look for the version that doesn't suck.

Perversely, I'm looking forward to the Barbarella remake. I don't know if Rodriguez can pull it off, but I think he has a good shot at it. I've heard Rose McGowan was cast as the eponimous Barbarella... so it still could go either way. I guess we'll just have to see on that one.

EDITED: for clarification because I'm still a little drunk

Why not just re-release it in theaters? I think they should do that with all of the really major movies every decade or so. Jaws, the original Star Wars trilogy, ooh, the Matrix! Movies that really can use the big screen to it's fullest. Stuff people missed the first time through (the original Indy trilogy anyone?). That way when hollywood wants to flog it's dead horses, all they have to do is resurrect them instead of desecrate them...

Comment by Bethany
on Black Christmas (2006)

September 13th 2008 23:58
you must have caught the cold I had two weeks ago... through the internet. Somehow. I'm sure. Hope it's better now.

I have heard, and agree to an extent, that this movie did so poorly due to the season it came out in. I need to catch this flick, keep meaning to.

Comment by Bethany
on El Orfanato (The Orphanage)

August 28th 2008 06:53
Heh yes, I know what you mean. I actually didn't even think about it until you mentioned it, honestly- normally that would have really stood out at me too. Funny how a good movie can really suck you in like that...

Comment by Bethany
on El Orfanato (The Orphanage)

August 27th 2008 09:51
if the cellar were dry and cool, his body might have been fairly well preserved. stranger things have happened, and it was probably well sealed because the other little boy lived down there- so dry and cool isn't a bad bet. It can be a quibble, but I also don't think it's much of a stretch, either...

Comment by Bethany
on [REC]

August 27th 2008 02:49
Yeah, I have actually. I recently did a review on it, then I realized you'd already done one (much better than mine) after I posted it and felt like a dumbass- not the first time I've done that, but still...

I used to live in Texas, and through classes and exposure I've learned a bit of Spanish. I can converse well enough to get a point across in a tourist sense, I think. But I also understand a lot more than I actually speak.