Tuesday, February 26, 2013

What we going to watch then?

Movie: Skyfall,  Looper,  Here Comes The Boom

Where: mother's

Reason for seeing it?: They were on Shaw Video On Demand and it's what mom was willing to watch

Shaw Video On Demand,  it's a beautiful thing.  I had hoped there was going to be some vampire movies on there, but there wasn't.  So instead, I had the chance the last few days to see the latest Bond movie, one of the most original sci-fi time travel stories, and a sports comedy-drama that is fast becoming my favourite sub-genre.

Skyfall is one of the best Bond movies I've seen.  The theme here is old vs new.  The first half is all about the widgets and whats-its, and the second half is totally old school techniques.  You have to ask who do you trust and how far are you willing to go for them?



From old vs new to another round of old vs new.  Looper is about a hitman who is sent back in time to kill himself.  I spent the first few minutes in awe on the make-up and acting of Joseph Gordon-Levitt. He had a young Bruce Willis down cold.


When I first saw the previews for Here Comes The Boom, I was thinking it was a straight up guys' comedy. But, it's a hell of a lot more.  It falls in line with the movie Warrior, which I loved by the by.  A teacher who gets into MMA cage fighting in order to help out the school and one of his best friends


I'm finding that I'm really liking these movies that are about MMA stories.  Which I personally am surprised with myself for, given I've never gotten into MMA in real life. (wrestling junkie but I just never really got hooked by the rest of it)

till later

Movie Club week 9

There is -again- no selection for Vampire Movie Club this week.  I still am at my mother's and still do not have any of my vampire collection.  
No, there has not been any posts on the vampire blog this last week at all.  I had thought I'd have access to episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer but I was wrong. (long story)

That's about it for the moment. 

till later


Sunday, February 24, 2013

Coffee Talk Feb 23rd 2013

I wanted to bring up the topic of American Psycho.  (which I covered the movie version here )
And basically, everything I said in that post about the movie, times that by 50 and you have what I think about the book.

You might remember back in early January, that I mentioned it was the selection for this month for book-movie club. One of the reasons it was chosen was because the movie has become a cult classic, even though the original book was said to be controversial.

I wanted to know what could have been in the book to make it so controversial?  Well, I've read the book, and now I know.

If you've seen the movie then you know it's packed with dark humour, the script is witty and the notes it hits are perfect to describe the metaphor of trying to keep up with the greed and shallowness that society hit back in the 1980s.  In the movie, the horror is there but it's not as in your face as it is in the book.
Not too mention, the movie can feel disjointed at times, but still flows in a way that makes sense. Although the movie is laid out in a slightly different order then the original book.

The book, is ten times more graphic in everything, from the sex scenes, to the murders, to the way the lead character describes everything his buddies and he are wearing. The grotesque and the mundane are equally important to the lead character. (like when he can not find a particular movie at the rental store then freaks out when he can not see what kind of shoes the sales person is wearing from where he is standing)
I'm actually left wondering if the character of Patrick Bateman is really a psycho killer or just a plan old junkie having drug induced nightmares?  You're witness to more then a few moments of pure madness, which seem to happen when his routine is disrupted (work out for two hours, watch his favourite show, pull money out of the bank machine, then go for dinner and drinks every day) or when he simply can not find something to keep him distracted. (Bateman and his buddies are constantly trying to score drugs) The sex and the drugs seem to keep him normal, and when they are removed he has a meltdown and goes on a killing spree.

There is a weird balance to this book as well.  Half this book is a strange nightmare induced horror story and half this book is like a memoir of a socialite.  Roughly the first 100 pages is filled with three (I think was what I counted) men who do nothing but talk about the women they are sleeping with, the food they are eating and the clothes they are wearing. It literally plays like a male version of Sex and the City for the first 100 pages, then the hard core stuff begins.

There is one chapter that I found particularly jarring.  And not because of any of the violence either, but from the simple fact the author goes from the first person to the third person for a few paragraphs. (I'm still not sure if that was a mistake no one's ever caught or if it was on purpose to really make you understand what the character is doing is "real" compared to the rest of the novel which is "all in his head" ?)
Like the movie version, you are left at the end wondering what the end really means. Did he do it all? Was it in his head?  Is he even really Patrick Bateman or one of the many guys people mistake him for through the book?

All in all, this is a good book. There were moments when I wondered how certain things got into print, but mostly it was brilliantly written.
For me, what I got out of it was the feeling of complete isolation, loneliness, insecurity, and boredom of the lead character.  A sort of backwards shot at feminism, and an unclouded fear of "they're not like us" that more then bordered on racism (which you could point out at times Dracula and Frankenstein both had)

If you are not easily offended, this is a book you should give a chance.


*Note- Yes the post date is 24th Feb, and the post title is the 23rd.  It took me nearly 45minutes to write the post*

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Movie Club week 8

No movie selection this week.

I'm not home this week, and don't have access to any of my  vampire  movies. (the rest of the week on the vampire blog will most likely be episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer

But while I'm in posting, those who are joining in on the movie-book club this month, just a reminder that we're reading American Psycho.  And the meeting will be this weekend.  Just check the book club blog for more.  

till later

What that movie inspired me to do # 7


I thought that I was way beyond due to have another one of these. Not just a "what that inspired me to do"  post, but a recipe inspired by a movie post.

Nearly everyone and their dog's grandmother has seen the cult classic film Lost Boys, and remembers the classic scene when the gang is in the cave with Micheal and order Chinese food.

Do you see where I am going with this?  Okay, so they have plan rice for that scene.  So I decided to go with a very quick and basic fried rice.




 

Ingredients:

1 cup mushrooms chopped

1 cup chopped green onions

2 cups rice

5 tablespoons of vegetable oil

2 eggs

soya sauce

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:   cook the rice to the instructions,

heat oil, scramble eggs,  add mushrooms to egg and oil,  cook on medium heat for about five minutes,

add half green onions to mixture, continue to cook stirring constantly,

add salt and pepper to taste,

add rice, mix, 
add soya sauce and continue mixing till everything is one colour,

top with the remainder of the green onion




 I have to admit, it was fun to get back into the kitchen and cook something for the projects. 

I have a few other movie recipes planned for the coming weeks as well.   Some of which I've never made before and I want to try them a few times before posting about them.



(yeah that is my copy of American Psycho.  I'll be back later with an update for movie/book club)

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Bad Fish

Movie: Guest House Paradiso

where:online

reason for seeing it: Major fan of Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson

plot: Richie and Eddie are running the worst hotel in England, which just happens to be next to a nuclear plant.  They end up picking up some fallen fish off the back of a truck and serve it to their guests, but not before stealing from one couple's bags, and insulting everyone forcing one other couple to leave early. Meanwhile, helping a movie star hide from her jealous boyfriend.

There's not much to say on this other then DO NOT EAT during this film. I really really wish I had been given a warning before picking this as a movie to watch while having dinner.
It's a slapstick comedy with a scene at the end that is pure gross out comedy, much in line with the Exorcist's famed spewing scene.

The characters are their famed Bottom characters, but it's a stand alone film. Bill Nighy and Simon Pegg have small roles, both as upset guests. 

Sat Feb 16th


Normally, as you might notice, I do this on a Friday.  But, like everything else this week, I'm a few days behind.  So, here's the weekly wrap up for the vampire blog.

Saturday (last week) was Day 31, and I covered the movie  The Forsaken

Sunday was Day 32, and I did the movie  League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

Monday was Day 33, and I talked about the movie  Vampire in Brooklyn

Wednesday was Day 34, and I covered Dracula the Series episode 5

Saturday (today)  is Day 35 and I covered Dracula the Series episode 6


till later

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Tuesday Movie Club Week 7


It's Week 7 of the Vampire Movie Club, and yes, it's another week where crap happened in my life to make me a day late.   So, to be honest, I'm a bit stuck as to which movie to choose for this week.  There are so many movies that I kind of want to save for later in the year to work with book club.  (Dracula, Interview with the Vampire, Twilight, Daywatch, etc)
But few nights ago, I covered the Forsaken.   So, lets jump into that.

We start with a scene where a woman is covered in blood in the shower, trying to scrub it all off. This then goes into an introduction to the lead character, who is hired to drive a car cross country. He then has to get the week off of work, in which we see him con his boss.  He then starts driving through the desert, his tire bursting causing him to have to pull into a repair shop.  Where he discovers that he lost his wallet. He spends the night in a hotel, and without knowing it, is in the next room to a gang of vampires. The next morning, he ends up picking up a hitchhiker. The two travel for a few hours, then stop to use a public toilet, and the same group from the hotel are hanging around outside, needing a boost for their car.  They unknowingly help the vampires with their car, which causes the vampires to decide to hunt them.
The two boys stop to eat, and see a girl who seems to be high trying to get on a bus.  The hitchhiker, who is actually a vampire hunter, realizes that the girl has been bitten and they take her with them to the hotel to help her.  She ends up biting the other guy infecting him.
The next morning, the two boys spot the car from the gang outside the hotel and open the trunk, killing one of the vampires by exposing her to the sun.  This is what cases the rest of the gang to hunt them wanting revenge.
The two boys start driving again with the girl, and the hunter explains what is going on, and tells him about the origins of the vampires and about the drugs that can help them from turning.
We then see the vampire's driver being pulled over by a cop in the middle of the day, with the vampires hiding in the trunk of their car.  The driver kills the cop before continuing on following the boys.  The female victim wakes up just after nightfall, as they realize the vampires are tracking her by a psychic link.  Their car runs out of gas just as they find themselves at the house of a woman who just happens to live on an old graveyard.  Here they decide to battle the vampires, because it is holy ground.
The two boys and the female victim manage to kill the vampires, and we then see them in the hospital. The hunter has left, and the main character finds a note explaining that the vampire who originally bit him is still out there.  So while killing the gang of vampires cured both the female victim and the main character, it did not cure the hunter.
We then see the main character drive up in the vampire's stolen car on the highway where the hunter is walking, and learn it is 3 months later and he's been tracking him down.  The two then set off driving into the desert again looking for the original vampire that had bitten the hunter. 


okay this was the movie de jour few days ago, for Day 31 on the vampire blog   
And as I mentioned on that post, it's one of the few modern vampire films that uses a Renfield.  It's become a cult classic and usually paired with Lost Boys or Near Dark.   We see a new type of vampire myth created here in this story, and the main themes are revenge, addiction, and isolation.
The vampire is used as a metaphor here for viruses. 

till later


Monday, February 11, 2013

When life falls apart, make it art

movie: Multiple Sarcasms

where: Netflix Canada

reason for seeing it: It's about a writer who is struggling to get his first play done

Whenever I come across a movie about a writer or artist I jump at the chance to see it. This was one of those quiet surprises that I wish I had heard about sooner.  It's a 2010 film, but set in 1979, which it doesn't feel like it is.  The story is brilliantly done to reflect any time period, anywhere.  Which I've always felt is the benchmark of a great story.  The only real nod that the film is meant to be in the 70's, is the wardrobe of one character and the use of typewriters/wall phones/ tape machines. 

plot:  a man who works at a job he no longer likes, starts writing a play about his life in order to figure out why he's not happy.  He ends up in a fight with his wife and realizes he no longer wants to be married. His best friend is a woman he's known since high school, and in a moment of drunken clarity, he finally admits to himself that she's the one person he is the happiest around.


There are scenes in this where the lead character is hiding in the toilet writing.  I know how that feels, being surrounded by everyone without having a bit of quiet, and ducking into the only room where you can be left alone long enough to get one thought straight.  The fact he sets up a mini office with his typewriter, tape recorder, and a small side table all around the toilet is brilliant.  It says a lot too how the character views his life up to that point.

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Sunday Double Feature

I've been up to my neck in vampires for the last month, and with Valentine's  just a few days away, I decided I wanted to watch a couple of chick-flicks.  So, after I did today's vamp-flick, (Today was Day 32 on the vampire blog)  I dug through a box of movies and decided to sit down and watch   Must Love Dogs  and Under The Tuscan Sun. 

Two movies I love, and haven't watched in a really long time.  I hadn't even paid attention to the fact that they sort of ended up being a Double Feature.  Both films star Diane Lane as a woman who is putting her life back together after a divorce. I was over half way through Under the Tuscan Sun when this fact registered in my brain.

What I think makes both these films so endearing, is the fact Lane is not afraid to get messy.  There is a scene in Sun where she literally is falling down a hill covered in mud, and an earlier scene where she's brave enough to do the whole scene without any make-up.  
And in Dogs, there is this great scene where she jumps into a lake when trying to get the attention of a guy.  Gutsy moves if you ask me.  There is just this great sense of honesty that she brings to all her roles.  And why I think, this genre of romantic comedy, has made her the equivalent of an action hero. (in other words, she is to romance what Jason Statham is to action)


Must Love Dogs (2005), is about this woman who's family decide that after her divorce, they are going to help her start dating again. Her sister signs her up for a dating site, and sends her on a bunch of really bad dates. One of which is at the dog park with a man who is also recovering from a horrible divorce.  They at first do not seem to hit it off, but decide to go on a second date, which also goes wrong. Meanwhile, while working as a teacher, she meets one of the father's of her students and starts an affair with him. Before she knows it, she is juggling both relationships hoping to figure out which man is better suited for her before it's too late.

Under The Tuscan Sun (2003),  is about a writer and book critic who learns that her husband is cheating on her with a younger woman. After spending a year living in a small one room apartment during the divorce, her two best friends send her on a tour of Italy as a way to get her out of her depression. While on one of the tour stops, she sees an ad for a villa that is for sale. Thinking it's a horrible idea, she continues on with the bus tour only to end up stopping in front of the villa when a random heard of sheep cross the road. Taking it as a sign, she buys the house. Soon, she finds herself in a crazy love affair that doesn't last, becoming a safe haven for her best friend who is now pregnant and divorced too, and the teenaged girl who lives next door that is in love with one of the construction workers that is restoring the villa.

Under the Tuscan Sun is also based on a biography, which I think makes it even that more charming. It's not just a cute little movie about finding your heart again after a tragic time, but it's a real story of rebuilding. Of picking up the pieces and figuring out a new puzzle.

Friday, February 8, 2013

Friday Feb 8th


It's a Friday, and that means it's time for the weekly round up from the vampire blog.

Monday was Day 27, and I talked about episode 3 of Dracula the Series

Tuesday was Day 28, and I talked about the movie  Highlander

Wednesday was Day 29, and I covered episode 4 of Dracula the Series

Thursday was Day 30, and I covered the movie  Rise Blood Hunter


Don't forget, the Tuesday Vampire Movie posts on this blog.  I'm dying to hear what you all think about the selections so far. 

till later

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Killer House

Movie:  Blood Stains  aka A Murder in My House

Where: DVD in my living room

My Reason For Seeing It: I thought it was a vampire movie

I picked up a bunch of movies back at Hallowe'en in a clearance sale and this was one of them.  The artwork is of a woman's face from the nose down with blood pouring from her lips and the tag line "His Kiss Is Killer".   The box made it sound like it was a vampire movie.  
It's not.

Plot:  After he has a heart attack, a retired lawyer moves back to his hometown with his adult daughter. They soon learn that the house they have bought was the scene of a murder two years before, and that the woman arrested was wrongly accused. The dad starts to dig into the case, reopening it, as the daughter gets into a relationship with the neighbour across the street. Little do they know that the killer is the new boyfriend.

This is a 2006 made for tv movie.  And it's not horrible, but it's not great either.  It's one of those films that you can sit through if it was on tv at night without having to really pay attention to. 
The scenery in this is beautiful.  But then again, most movies that are made for television really pack a punch with locations.
It's also one of those cautionary tales about being careful who you get involved with.

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Tuesday Movie Club Week Six


Tuesday night and time for this week's vampire movie.  And I decided to go with .... Highlander

We open with a wrestling match and a close up of a fan.  He starts having strange flashbacks to when he was alive hundreds of years ago.  Then suddenly, odd feelings make him jump out of his seat and head to the parking lot where a guy is waiting for him with a large sword. We learn his name is Connor as they fight, and he decapitates the guy.  This is followed by the dead guy's lifeforce filling the parking area and being absorbed into Connor.  The police arrive and arrest him, finding one of the swords.
Back at the crime scene, we learn that the medical examiner has a background in weaponry, specifically swords. She learns that the weapon used to behead the guy should not even exist.
Connor is released from jail and we follow him back to his loft.  Here, another few flashbacks reveal that he first died in battle hundreds of years before and learned that he was in fact immortal. We see his training to be a faster better swordsman, and are introduced to the characters of Heather, his long dead wife, and Ramriez the other immortal who trained him.  We also are introduced to Kurgan, the one immortal who has been after him since he first turned.
Back to modern day, and the police realize they have a serial killer on their hands. Many headless bodies have appeared in the last few months in the general area of New York.  All accompanied by the strange electrical storms.
Brenda, the female medical examiner, has figured out that Connor is not who he says he is, and uncovers part of the truth.  That he's some sort of creature that's been alive for a few hundred years. She decides to go to see him at his store, only to be conned into inviting him over to her place for dinner.  Connor out smarts her and they end up starting a sexual relationship.  All the while, unaware that Kurgan is following them, getting to know Connor's weaknesses.
There is a confrontation between Connor and Kurgan at a church, but since they can not battle on holy ground, Kurgan instead kidnaps Brenda, forcing Connor to chase them.
The two end up in an old warehouse for the final battle, and Connor takes his head draining Kurgan of his lifeforce becoming the only immortal left.


Let's start with the make-up and costume design they put the character Kurgan in. He looks like Frankenstein. And the trenchcoat that Connor wears throughout the modern scenes, very much in line with Dracula's cape.  (also one of the trend setters for many vampire wardrobes to come)

With that in your mind, you have a classic case of vampirism with the taking of the lifeforce of the other immortals. Much the way a psy-vamp would.  Decapitation being the only way to finally kill them, and by silver. (as all swords pretty much are made from silver)   Both ways in folklore to destroy a vampire.  (This is almost like a precursor to the tv show Angel, a vampire slaying it's own kind.)
They gain all the memories, strengths, knowledge, skills, of the other immortals once they've absorbed their life into them.  There is also the idea that as immortals, they are unable to have children, this is an frequent element in vampire stories.  (but not always folklore)

You can't mention this movie and not mention the soundtrack.  I have to admit, I've never been much of a Queen fan, but you just can not imagine this movie done with any other music to it. There is just this electric connection between the film and the soundtrack.  One of those it was meant to be rarities.

till next time

Friday, February 1, 2013

Friday Feb 1st 2013


Friday once again, and time for the weekly round up of the vampire blog.

Saturday... was  Day 21  and I covered the first episode of the television show  Dracula the Series

Sunday was Day 22 and I covered the movie Monster Squad

Monday was Day 23 and I did the movie the Night Stalker

Wednesday was Day 24 and I did the movie  Hotel Transylvania

Thursday was Day 25 and I covered the movie Dracula Dead and Loving It

Friday (today) is Day 26 and I decided to cover the second episode of Dracula the Series

And yes, I had another missed day this week. But, most the week was covered.  And as I type this, I'm having issues with the blogger editor so it's taking me like an hour to do what should take me five minutes.

Till later