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!
There's a lot of information to process right now, and I don't have the time or fortitude to do it. I'm siting at a theater, about to watch my brother in law in Jesus Christ Superstar. His husband is on the way to join us. The family is coming from out of town.
I listen to Elton John on the radio while we drove here. Does that mean anything?
My husband says I seem distant. I feel like I'm a dimension over, separated from reality by a paper thin screen. Or a computer screen.
I'll have more to say later, when my banal blogs about words and books and my life pass. For now, there's a a stage and a show and glitz and glamour and death that ends with the bows.
I have seen this kid in literally nothing, but he's also playing Jordan in Stephen King's CELL, which couldn't be more different. There, he's a scared prep school kid. Here, he'll be playing a murderous child psychopath. Spoiler alert: He dies in one of the most horrific ways I've ever read, even in a King book. Have fun with THAT film makers.
Most of the kid members of the losers club have been cast. They're all basically unknowns, which is great. Bev Marsh, the sole female loser, is the only one not cast. The adult casting for all the characters (all the human characters anyway) remains to be seen. I've already posted some of my ideal cast, but as a reminder:
So, why not sit down and compare these two disparate yet deliciously creepy franchises?
Outward appearance
Both Pennywise and the Klowns have colorful outward appearances. Gaudy neons and wild hair right out of the bigtop. The main difference between the two sets in their clown/klown form is that Pennywise looks like a person in clown makeup, and the Klowns have big thick lips, 'real' clown noses, etc.
One of the Klown's limiting factors is that they're not shape shifters; Pennywise can literally be anything in case you're not scared of clowns. Notable appearances include:
Old rotting lady/man.
Teenage werewolf
Big ol' spider.
I'd say the Klowns are ceepier in clown form, just based on looks alone. But when they open their mouths...
Vocals
Pennywise is played by Tim Curry, and has his illustrious voice. It's not even fair!
The Killer Klowns don't say much (I think the only word is 'Pizza' and repeating a character's name with another character's voice), and they're randomly extra high or low pitched. It's a little unnerving, but these things don't rely on that at all.
Powers and abilities
The Killer Klowns have ray guys that turn you into a cotton candy slurpee, different ray guns that stick you inside a balloon (for later), a vacuum truck to suck up the cotton candy cocoons, a huge space ship shaped like a circus tent (and filled with zany rooms and mazes), mallets, puppets, acid cream pies, and 'magic bags' for holding tricks. They're aliens and clowns; if you can name something one of those villains has, these guys have it.
Even the puppets are packin'.
They're also gifted ventriloquists.
Pennywise can lure in young kids, tell a half-decent joke, and, oh yeah, SEE THE APPEARANCE NOTE ABOVE. Also, it can possess people, plague you with dead kids, and hide itself from grownups. So...yeah, gonna give it to Pennywise again.
Plus whatever the hell this balloon attack is.
Who are they after?
One of the few similarities between fanchises is who they're after; both Klown and clown are sucking the life out of an entire town. Pennywise just gets more time to do it.
What the Killer Klowns lack in Stephen King endorsement, they make up for with Titus killing.
Where are they from?
Actually, both sets of red-nosed ravishers originally come from outer space. Pennywise is from OUTER outer space, actually. Like, outside our dimension. And now he lives in a sewer.
They all have renters insurance down here, Georgie.
Weaknesses
The Killer Klowns can only be stopped by exploding their noses, and even then, you can only take 1 Klown at a time. Even their ship exploding didn't stop 'em, so humanity is doomed.
The Dickies say so.
Movie-verse Pennyswise is beaten with silver earrings and getting it's heart ripped out. So...yeah, giving it to the Klowns. I'd bring up the book, but you don't have an extra four hours for me to explain it.
So, what's my ultimate opinion on Pennywise vs the Killer Klowns? I like 'em both! Go watch them both!
With 500+ books in my personal library, and almost a hundred unread, I've got to get moving. I've made a vow not to buy any more books until I read some of the ones I already have. Now, to be fair, I basically immediately broke that promise since the last Temeraire book is coming out, and Joe Hill's newest book was just published, but hey, at least I thought about it.
With that in mind, I'm officially declaring my next five books. No more buying until these are read! Maybe public knowledge will help stem my literary urges. I've already purchased them, so no loopholes there either.
I have all of Joe Hill's other books, and I'm real excited about this one. I haven't read much about it, just that people are getting scales and bursting into flames. Intriguing!
I'm a big Narnia fan. Time to read more of C.S. Lewis's fine work...also about hell. Sorta.
No word on Phil's involvement here either.
5. League of Dragons by Naomi Novik
Epic series about talking, soldier dragons. The final book in the series. I'm happy, but also dreading it, since that means no more. I don't wanna talk about it any more.
ALL the things I've said about the effects being undone, the best jokes not being farted out at a first glance, and the characters not being one-off copies of the originals has been validated. And even IF this movie was a Paul Blart-esc misma of lazy fart jokes and crummy effects (and I'm not saying it is) there's one thing everyone's forgetting:
By all means, complain about bad movies, books, games, shows, and everything else you see that is sub par entertainment. There's no other way to make changes to the industry. BUT GIVE IT A CHANCE FIRST. Give it a chance. And remember, you still have access to the good.
New international Ghostbusters trailer (that addresses some haters issues, but do they care, no, SCREW THOSE PEOPLE THIS IS WHY WE CAN'T HAVE NICE THINGS!).
THIS. This is the director of Ghostbusters.
SO many of my favorite things all happening at once. I'm also having a good week at work, rehearsal for Damn Yankees is going well, and next week is my 2 year anniversary with Bahamute. We're going to Red Lobster. :D
Dinner and a show!
It's been a good week. Just wanted to share my joy. :) Happy Friday!
So, what was originally a day of massive joy has
turned into something a bit funky. The trailer for the Ghostbuster’s reboot has
released, and the initial reaction seems to be mostly negative. Granted, this
is just from looking at Twitter, but as a hip young person ™ I don’t have a lot
of other research venues.
Clearly, these women must be destroyed.
There are issues with the trailer. That’s what the
internet tells me. So as a Ghostbuster’s fan, and an avid hater of reboots, let
me break down the most prevalent issues with the trailer and my thoughts on
them. Spoilers, so take 3 minutes to watch it before you proceed.
The Ghostbusters are women.
This has been the cry since the casting
announcements were made, and the new trailer hasn’t stemmed the flow. First of
all, this is NOT the first time there was a female Ghostbuster:
Janine in the original series
Kylie in Extreme Ghostbusters.
Janine, Kylie, and agent Ortiz from the Ghostbusters comics.
Granted, these are extended universe situations and
characters, but they still count. A long line of proud female Ghostbusters,
just as funny, smart, and good at Bustin’ as the men. Next argument please.
It’s racist.
Okay, HEAR ME OUT. I get that Leslie Jones’s character doesn’t
APPEAR to be a doctor. But you’re all assuming that she’s not; the movie’s not
out, we don’t know for sure.
Second, you assume
she’s uneducated based on the way she speaks. Isn’t that racist?
Third, she’s already way more involved in the trailer
than Winston was for the original movies. She is represented just as much as
the other characters.
Forth; she has a distinct personality outside of ‘the token
Black person.’ She’s funny. She knows a good opportunity when she sees one, and
wants to join up. Courageous. Strong, physically. Strong emotionally. Her
friend gets possessed and instead of falling apart she does what it takes to
solve the problem.
What’s not to love?!
There shouldn’t be a remake.
Yeah, in a perfect world there would be no remakes.
Except The Fly. And The Thing. And Hateful Eight. And Django unchained. And
Star Trek (yes, Star Trek, wanna fight about it?!).
Tell me that's not perfect.
These remakes, like Ghostbusters, are about a fresh
take on the material with new stories to tell. If they were just straight
remaking the old movies I’d be the first one ready to burn down Hollywood. But
this is a new story that clearly respects its source. That’s a great and rare
thing, and needs to be acknowledged.
It’s no good.
This is a toughie.
I thought the trailer was funny. Was it laugh out
loud, fall down, crying funny? No. But it was funny. Did the effects look
perfect? No, but it’s still a work in progress. They looked alright, and the design
work was fantastic. I love the blue
class 4 ghost, and the shot of Slimer was great.
The spud looks good.
Long story short, this was a 2 minute clip. I don’t
think you can judge the whole movie from that. I also think people are being
unusually hard, as it has quite a legacy to live up to. If there was no original
Ghostbusters people would be just as excited about this as any comedy starring
the people it stars. We all just need to give Ghostbusters a chance. Will it be
better than the original? No. But it’s not trying to be. It’s trying to be a
fun movie that respects its source; at that, it will succeed.
Being home sick for three days has given me some...interesting dreams. I'll chronicle them here, since that's what I always do.
The first one began with my family and friends sitting just outside my backdoor, having a party. It was dusk, and we were all sitting around a round table when a stranger approached. She looked like a cross between an alien-human hybrid and a shadow person. Yes, I'm an avid X-Files fan.
She looked like a young African american woman, with red eyes and literally black skin. "A shadow person!" I screamed as she moved to attack. Someone at the party asked what that was. "A being from another dimension. No one knows what they want from us!"
I knew what this one wanted. She wanted to kill. She was evil. I slammed her head into the ground, and she began to deflate into a paper figure. I screamed about Jesus compelling her to leave, how God banishes her from this place, etc. The creature began to cry and I went on, in full-blown southern preacher style, to explain Jesus was sent here to die for us, and her only salvation lay with Christ. She agreed, became 3d, and said she'd leave.
But.
There was a small hair ribbon she needed from inside my house. I told her to go without it. She refused, asking to come in. I asked one friend to wait with her, watch her, while I got it. I went in to my house and while I searched for 2 seconds, all went quiet.
I ran back outside; the creature laughed over the bodies of my dead friends and family. All but two were dead. I demanded why my living friend hadn't stopped the slaughter. No answer. I woke up instead.
And like an idiot, went back to sleep.
I was going home from work with my friend and coworker when we detoured into a frozen, snowy field. In this field was my Grandmother, who passed away last year. She looked fine, and was walking towards a bank. I stopped her, and she was glad to see me. She explained that she was going to apply for a credit card, that she just HAD to get this credit card. I followed her in, bewildered. Inside was the rest of my family, in line, seemingly unaware of my grandmother. My grandfather was there. What should I do? Do I tell him that his wife is alive again, or just wait to see how it played out?
There was a third dream, but all I remember is being unable to listen to an important voicemail and the members of NWA (as portrayed by their film actors) trying not to get killed by one another.
I've been a fan of Deadpool for several years. I don't remember how I stumbled across the Merc with a Mouth, but I did, and now I'm the proud owner of many Deadpool bound editions. I do know it was before the movie announcement, since I've been hyped for years.
And boy, did it come through.
This is the first great rated R superhero movie since Watchman (yes, I remember Kickass and its sequel. They're fine, not great). There's gore, violence, torture, sex, and of course:
I am so very happy.
It hit all the marks of being a proper Deadpool movie. Just enough 4th wall breaking, a great story, and fantastic actors. Hud is in it! And Daario! And Leslie Uggams! What even is this movie?
I've seen Deadpool twice now, and it's not one of those movies that seems great but falls flat after repeated viewings (I'm looking at you, Matrix sequels). It's still funny, exciting, horrifying, and above all, Deadpool-y.
At this point, I just want more material of the same caliber. But even if the sequel is disappointing I'll still be awed by the fact that we got even one Deadpool movie, never mind it being nearly perfect.
Could the villain have been more menacing? Eh, sure. Could more have been done with Vanessa to get her to Copycat? Yeah, okay. But it's not about them. It's about Wade, and Wade was perfect. So I'm happy.
After re-watching my childhood favorite Christmas special, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer with some friends, I came to an interesting conclusion; Frozen is very similar. Behold, my mighty trove of evidence:
1. The main character is shunned and made to feel ashamed of their non-conformity.
Sam the Snowman literally calls it a "non-conformity." What the hell, 1960s.
2. Talking/Singing snowman.
3. Prominent Reindeer character.
Rudolph has more, but they look a little funkier than Sven.
4. Blond side-kick who needs to do their own thing, accompanied by said Reindeer.
5. Plenty of songs children will love, but will be ear-worms for adults.
6. Parents who mean well, but fall short.
At least Donner repented.
Now, am I saying that Frozen would have been enhanced with a sassy (possibly gay) elf ? Yes, but only because that's true of almost any movie.
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