See the elusive girl geek as she acts in local theater! Watch as she writes manuscripts, fanfiction, and anything else that come out of her deranged mind! Gawp as she reviews movies that normal women would run from in terror! GIRL GEEK!
Well, I like both of these actors a whole lot. They'd definitely have the chops to pull off the characters, and then some. And almost anything would be an improvement over...
Moley, moley moley, mole...
I still think Seth Green and Robert Sean Leonard would have rocked harder, but that's just me. Now the question is who can play adult Ben better than the late, great, John Ritter?
I don't really have any other ideas. But I'm excited/scared to find out.
The sequel to “It,” the highest-grossing Stephen King adaptation to date, will begin filming in July. “The script is still being finalized and the locations are currently being scouted in anticipation of shooting then,” confirmed producer Roy Lee. Director Andrés Muschietti will return to extend the first installment into a franchise. One of the original screenplay’s three writers, Gary Dauberman, is at work on the script."
Soooo.....not really a date. And no casting yet, though Jessica Chastain may be adult Bev.
I really thought I was going to have more interesting pop culture stuff to blog about after taking a hiatus for so long. Maybe next time...
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Ok, seriously, in between when I originally finished this and publishing it, Jordan Peele announced he's developing a show about hunting Nazis in the 70s.
I also finished Steven Universe, so...that's gonna be an upcoming thing...warning you now.
I worked for a funereal home. I've seen the room where the corpses are drained, and I never saw this much blood. With what I know I'll say it's really really weird that this happened, but it was likely a plumbing fluke. Still, what the eff.
In other news, people are still idiots. A dad tried to discipline his daughter by dressing like a clown then chasing her. Then he was shot at. And to top the sadness Sunday, the Dad said dicipline was hard since the kid's mom was in jail for stepping on/breaking the kids ribs.
Screw people. I need some better news.
Um...back to the graveyard, as a Michigan realtor advertised a cemetery-adjacent property as having quiet neighbors.
So, with Chapter 1 out of the way, it's time to start talking about the news, and what lies in store for chapter two. There's a lot to discuss, so let's sink our teeth in!
Also, Stephen King has made an updated statement aboutthat scene (not in the film, of course). A previous statement was "I wasn’t really thinking of the sexual aspect of it. The book dealt with childhood and adulthood –1958 and Grown Ups. The grown ups don’t remember their childhood. None of us remember what we did as children–we think we do, but we don’t remember it as it really happened. Intuitively, the Losers knew they had to be together again. The sexual act connected childhood and adulthood. It’s another version of the glass tunnel that connects the children’s library and the adult library. Times have changed since I wrote that scene and there is now more sensitivity to those issues. "
Now, a little something to ease the tension!
Now King has added: “...it’s fascinating to me that there has been so much comment about that single sex scene and so little about the multiple child murders. That must mean something, but I’m not sure what.”
Interesting.
As for the DVD release, it'll have a 15 minute director's cut. Also, Freddy Kruger almost popped up as one of IT's forms. As much as I love Freddy, that would have stolen the whole show; best they just had the poster.
As for chapter two, the producers have released some details, mostly about how Mike will be a bit more fucked up than his book counterpart. The Turtle may have more of an impact. Bill Skarsgard is returning as Pennywise of course, and filming is supposed to begin in January. No casting details yet.
For those of you who want to know more about the original mini-series, one of my favorite reviewers has taken it on. So far only 2 parts are up, but she's promised at least a 3rd. Check 'em out!
One sad item: a woman died at a screening, seemingly from a heart attack. My heart goes out to her family and loved ones.
So, before the movie comes out tomorrow, there's a few last minute things in the media I want to go over. First, Cracked did an article about that scene from blog #40. I'd hoped they had new insight into why King wrote it, but there's nothing that I didn't cover. Take that, much more popular website!
In other dumb news, the World Clown Association is getting ready for the release of IT be complaining about how they'll have less work, and how Pennywise isn't a real clown.
No shit. Next you'll be telling me Cujo is no Beethoven. Bastards. Stephen King had this to say:
So, aside from gearing up for the movie tomorrow, I don't have much IT related news right now. There won't be anything new until Part 2 gets rolling. They haven't even announced the adult loser cast yet! So, there's still time to go with my casting choices...
I want these two to Chud it up. I want it baddddd.
You may recall that Borat creator Sacha Baron Cohen was originally cast as Freddy in the biopic. I'm not sure about why he's left, but I think Rami Malek is going to be a great Freddy.
I was a big fan of the OG School Bus, and this looks like a fun revamp. I probably won't be watching, but I'm thirty. I know how the water cycle works.
In other news, I've started reading the novel Ready Player One, just in time to not watch the trailer before it spoils anything.
Spoilers: I watched it before I started reading.
I'm only a few chapters in, but I'll enjoy the journey/lambasting the movie/praising the movie.
Speaking of lambasting movies, The Death Note adaptation was shitty, and I don't want to talk about it.
Luckily, there's a watchMojo list for LITERALLY EVERYTHING.
Now I'm depressed. I'm gonna go watch a video about the Butterball Cenobite.
So, I was on vacation this last weekend, with no internet access. And in that time, The Babadook became a LGBT icon.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the top-hatted entity, The Babadook is the titular character from an Australian horror film; he moves into the home of a grieving wife and mother, tormenting her and her son. He also may be a physical embodiment of depression. Or not exist at all.
It's a really good, intense horror movie, with pretty much no gay over or undertones that I recall.
So why all of this?
For some reason, Netflix shuffled this into their LGBT category, and the internet ran with it. So, if you see a goth-looking specter at your local pride rally, that's why.
I'm not really sure how to feel about this. I've never seen a horror icon embraced so wholeheartedly by the LGBT community. Not even when Freddy Krueger was in the gayest horror movie of all time.
Seriously, there's a scene in a leather bar, a guy is whipped to death, Freddy is trying to get into a young man's body, and the lead actress looks like Meryl Streep.
I'm not offended or displeased as a horror fan. My only worry is when people actually go watch the film. They are in for one hell of a shock. The Babadook is REALLY hardcore. It is not a loving, supportive entity. But if you want him for that, hey, more power too you.
Plus, I'd love to go to a rally and get a picture with some cosplayer...
But lately I find myself caring more, especially after watching the same-universe prequel, Kong: Skull Island. And if you haven't seen that, go see it.
Come for the cast, stay for the plot, effects, and general quality.
I realized I cared more about Godzilla than I thought when I read a blog that in short order: (a) spelled lizard 'lizzard' repeatedly, (b) stated that Godzilla was "Kaiju" in Japanese, and (c) the author stated their favorite Godzilla movie was the 90s one. The one most of us call G.I.N.O. (Godzilla in Name Only), and the Japanese call Zilla, since the God was effectively removed.
Needless to say, I found myself getting ticked.
For an in-depth detailing of that films flaws, I refer you to the Nostalgia Critic.
It all got me pretty steamed. So apparently, I care about Godzilla. I had no idea.
But, there's a lot of good reasons to care! Firstly, I really liked the newer American movie.
I hate so much how season nine/the show ended I won't even go back and watch the other episodes. I do not want to see any more of these characters, unless it's Ted and Robin getting divorced and her getting back with Barney, and everyone telling Ted what a horrible person he is.
I feel similarly about the Roseanne revival. I'll watch anything with John Goodman, but SPOILERS isn't Dan dead? Like, he died, and the last season where they won the lottery was a fantasy. I guess they'll retcon that.
Here's a small rundown of that film, in case you're under a rock.
It is as crazy as it sounds. And I am super excited.
What I'm not excited about is the Wicked movie still being a thing, and new songs being added to it. Wicked is slated to come out in December 2019, nobody has been cast yet, and it's being written by the writers of the musical.
Wicked is my favorite musical, but I'm not sure it'll translate to the screen. When Elphaba rises into the air onstage that is a thing to behold. When magic happens, you wonder how they did that. In a movie it'll just be CGI. I'd rather they just filed a performance and released that, CATS or Joseph style.
So, we end on a downer for this pop culture roundup. Man. Enjoy something funny while I cheer myself up with Baywatching.
If you don't have a spare 30 minutes to watch that video, the crux of it is the company DaVita, one of the largest government-contracted kidney dialysis companies, is scamming the government out of money, and providing substandard treatment to patients.
The charges (and settled cases) include firing workers who tried to unionize, rushing treatments to squeeze in more patients, throwing away vials of half-used drugs to bill for more vials, and not informing patients of transplant options, thus keeping them on dialysis longer, aka killing them.
Most of you know I'm signed up to be an organ donor. If you do, you also know my father was on dialysis, and was a kidney transplant patient before I was born. I literally wouldn't be here if not for organ donation and dialysis.
So I'm a little upset.
The negligence is so bad, one person involved in DaVita's 'Kidney Education' program said this:
John Oliver went on to talk about how these issues run rampant within the for-profit dialysis sector, and how settlements are still coming forward. What it comes down to, is that we need to combat the kidney shortage.
You can be like me and sign up to donate when you've died (try tweeting #WhenIDiePleaseTakeMyKidneys) , or even signing up to be a living donor here.
I'm not above begging on this issue. Please, save a life. You'll be dead anyway, you don't need your organs. It's a small box on your driver's license renewal, or here for Michiganders.
I literally wouldn't exist without organ donation. If you care about me at all, if you know me as a person or just as these words typed across this screen, sign up. Save a life. Save future lives.
I didn't even like it when my smartphone figured out where I worked and started giving me updates on how long it would take to get home each day. Now I've got to deal with an uprising from the uncanny valley?
For anyone unfamiliar with the Uncanny Valley, watch this video. For anyone familiar with it, but wanting some extra-creepy examples, watch the video below. Warning: it is NOT funny. It features, among other things, a person with severe deformations from polio (portraying their drag personality and dance routine, so...yay?).
“But in general, take my advice, when you meet anything that is going to be Human and isn’t yet, or used to be Human once and isn’t now, or ought to be Human and isn’t, you keep your eyes on it and feel for your hatchet.”
In movies, the uncanny valley can be used for either good or ill, especially when it comes to horror. But when it comes to real life, I'd rather not have to deal with it. I've always been a bit of a Luddite when it comes to learning new technology. Until they get over the valley, or back off from it entirely, I'd admire these advances from afar.
The last strike was about residuals from DVD sales, and absolutely something that is important, and strikeabel. Writers deserve their due payment just like any other profession. This strike is about changes to master-contracts. Shows have shifted from on average 22 episodes per season to smaller orders, ala Netflix and other streaming platforms. Writers get paid per episode, so you do the math.
1. The number of episodes, and therefore, episode fees are half the traditional number on many series.
2. These fewer episode fees are being amortized across more than two weeks per episode.
3. Writers are held exclusive and under option even when not working on these short season series.
4. Residuals are too low in the emerging rerun markets.
5. Script fees remain unequal to the network rates for the growing areas of the industry.
There are also issues with the Guild's heathcare being bankrupt. Isn't entertainment glamorous?
Essentially, this could be a repeat of last time: shows shorted, or cancelled. There's not a lot we as viewers can do for the moment: not streaming or watching your favorite shows won't show support. I'd say just keep an eye on the news, and if there's a way to show support (if the protest goes through), I'll let you know.
The Anne Frank Center has decried Trump's inaction several times. Today they stated Trump is at least partly to blame. Steven Goldstein, executive director of the Anne Frank Center, said: "Mr. President, it doesn't matter whether you think you are personally responsible for the continued acts of hate against Jews, including today's latest bomb threats. Rightly or wrongly, the most vicious antisemites in America are looking at you and your administration as a nationalistic movement granting them permission to attack Jews, Jewish institutions, and sacred Jewish sites. Mr. President, you cannot just say this is not your fault. Slow and inadequate responses can make it partly your fault.
You must do more than belatedly condemn antisemitism. You must act to
prevent it as if all our families were at stake."
Trump has Jewish grand-kids, remember. He can't even muster up the courage to condemn something that DIRECTLY AFFECTS HIS FAMILY.
The Anne Frank Center has condemned Trump and his reactions (and lack thereof) before. They're saying what I've been saying; Trump's (in)action is NOT ENOUGH.
We've seen what happens when these sorts of acts are unaddressed, or half-heartedly condemned.
Maybe there's too much going on for him to address this, you say?
So, clowns have invaded two towns in South Carolina. Children report the figures are trying to lure them into the woods with money. With over 2 months until Halloween, it's a little early for antics this hardcore. And that's coming from someone who's favorite book is literally about a clown stalking and killing children.
My original joke was that this was a marketing campaign for the new IT remake. There's speculation that it's viral marketing for Rob Zombie's new film 31. If this was the case I'd assume it'd happen in more places, with less emphasis on kids. No studio or director is going to want a promoter shot in the name of marketing. There's reports of residents randomly firing into the woods to deter the clowns. So...yay.
I'm all for scaring kids, creepy clowns, and horror movies. But this is a step too far. Scare kids on Halloween, in haunted houses, or a hayride. Not in their backyard, unannounced.
Best case, this is misguided marketing. Most likely it's a prank.
I don't want to consider the option that mentally ill people are doing this, and what they might intend. Killer Klowns are one thing, Creepy people are another.
What can I say to explain how he affected me? The dry sarcasm of Willy Wonka. Jim's color blindness. Dave's reaction to actual blindness. Dr. Frankenstine's character arc. Leo's panicked screams.
How many gags have I stolen, how many lines have I repeated, how many times did I watch my sister's old VHS of Chocolate Factory?
I don't have the words. I have DVD and VHS and a million laughs. That's what I have.
I'll leave you with the description from Gene's twitter, a more brilliant line than I'll ever pen:
Harley is a long time fan favorite. People have wanted her in the live-action movies for twenty years. I couldn't be happier that it's finally happening.
She's a doctor, a gymnast, a devoted (and battered) girlfriend, and INSANE. While no one can replace Arleen Sorkin, I think Ms. Robbie is a fine choice to bring Harley to life.
