Most people who know me know that I’m a huge bad movie fan or, at least, that my taste in movies is wide and sometimes differs from most critics. If I get around to posting my favorites from last year, we will see this first hand. So, I had to smile when I saw these posters for Aliens VS Predator up on Ain’t It Cool News this morning.
This movie rocked my world. The sequel was weak, but I still enjoyed it.
On top of that, AvP holds a sacred place in my heart and marriage.
One day I was over at my wife’s, then girlfriend’s house when AvP came on the tv. She snuggled in beside me and said, “I love this movie.”
That’s when I knew it was forever. I pulled back, looked her in the eyes and said, “I love you.”
She smiled and replied, “Are you sure you want this to be the first time you say that?”
Shannon and I made it out to see Role Models this weekend and I have to say that it made me want to teach my children to cuss like sailors (which, if you know my family, will probably happen anyway) for a laugh.
I had high hopes that The Happening would bing M. Night Shyamalan back to the glory days of his first three major films (Actually, I am one of those rare few that even loves The Village despite its flaws).
Sadly, The Happening is a mess. The actors have nothing to work with, the violence is slow, sad, and not worth the R rating, and the plot (which could have been interesting) was horrible.
What happened to Shymalan’s writing? He used to be the king of understated emotional response. Now we get jokes about being attracted to a girl at the pharmacy. Come on!
I left this movie with three positive things
Hope that Shymalan is finally taking my advice and working with a already created property (yes, I’m a glutton for punishment). His next feature is a live action movie of the anime – Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Excitement that a feature film of Stephen King’s The Cell can get right what Shymalan got so wrong.
We are having the second “Oh, God! We’re Moving to Seattle and Buck has way too many Action Figure” garage sales today and tomorrow. So, here is my plan for today:
7am-12pm hang out a the garage sale, chat it up, read the internet.
That last post got me thinking about the movies or tv shows that Shannon should be watching when she goes into labor with our child. Now, I am no expert on what you should be doing during the final days of your pregnancy, but I do know where my mother was and what she was doing when I decided it was time to head out.
She was on her couch watching the delectably cheesy horror movie Frogs staring Mr. Sam Elliot.
Any of you that know me well can see the connections between her watching that movie and my personality makeup (no matter how many fallacies are really in that argument). Since I want to shape my child in every way I can (and as subliminally as possible), here are the movies and tv shows that Shannon and I will watch in hopes that our baby will decide to make an appearance and catch the ending.
1. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy- Yes, it’s three movies, but if we start watching them from the beginning in late November there is a good chance that the baby will want to see the next one so bad that she will move on out. Of course, we will have to watch getting to the very end before she is born. Those last scenes might make her want to stay in till all the hobbits get out of the bed.
2. Frogs – why not? It was good enough for me and I have it on dvd!
3.The Bride of Frankenstein – The Creature is my favorite universal monster, but this movie is an awe inspiring masterpiece. If anything could actually manipulate our child (while still in the womb) into a creative genius it would be this.
4. Arrested Development- As I’ve said before, this is the hilarious series that got Shannon and I together. Oh, and being attracted to cousins runs in my family.
5. Deadliest Catch- What I love about this show is that it is reality tv at its most real. I know, they cut and paste scenes, blah, blah, blah-but overall it’s wonderfully scary stuff. Now, I am not saying that I want our child to become a crab fisherman, but there are tons of reasons that this show should influence her. The questioning of the lifestyle, the fear factor, the proximity to Washington (where she will be born and raised, and the ecological discussions we could have (I am expecting to become a huge hippie once I hit the West Coast and should have dreads by the time she is born.)
6. Ghost Hunters – Besides being Shannon’s favorite show (and therefore bringing the probability that she would be watching it way up) this show is great.
7.Raising Arizona - Among the millions of “baby movies” out there, this one is hard to beat. Plus, I have to prepare for my nights of diaper robbery!
8. Spirited Away- we should get our baby started on the right cartoons with this amazing Hayao Miyazaki film. This movie floored me when I first saw it. Plus, it will teach our baby what to do if we both get turned into pigs.
Just weeks after I amazed my wife with the sheer amount of Creature merchandise I have up in my parent’s garage – including two of these plushies above and a life-size cardboard cutout that I threatened to take with us to Seattle, news hits about a possible remake of the classic original.
The Creature is my favorite Universal Monster and the reason I wanted to be a marine biologist when I was younger (that didn’t quite work out). We have heard a lot about remakes in the past, but this one actually sound like it might come to fruition. According to Sci Fi Wire,
Director Breck Eisner told SCI FI Wire that he is preparing an update to the 1954 SF movie Creature From the Black Lagoon and has found a pristine location in the Amazon to film it.
“I want it to be authentic; I want it to be a sea of green rather than CG,” said Eisner in an interview after a news conference on May 2 in Pasadena, Calif., to promote NBC’s Fear Itself. “It is certainly easy to update the story. It was shot in modern times at the time it was originally made, and this will be shot today in the Amazon. We are updating the tone of the original.”
I’m trying not to get too excited. It looks like it could be years down the road, but that is only makes it something I can share with the little one. Watching horror movies together makes for wonderful family stories.
I remember watching Son of the Blob with my mom (and on my list of fears – gelatin monsters are up there close to number one) when I had a friend over one night (or at least starting it and getting too scared to continue). And, watching Kingdom of the Spiders with my Grandma and cousins. That movie scared my cousin so bad he wouldn’t walk home alone. It wasn’t Shatner! It was the spiders!
Haircut day!_______________________________1 day ago
Having lunch with my lovely wife at Chaiyo Thai._______________________________2 days ago
My question - are Dick and Perry crazy.
My student's Smart A. Answer - we're not psychologists._______________________________2 days ago
Wants to go home for the day. Lunch with the wife will be a happy break._______________________________2 days ago
Is listening to "To Hell with the Devil" and it is as amazing as the first time he ever heard it. Put the record on!_______________________________3 days ago
