Vulpine at the Movies: Bliss and Prey

Ok, Friday night horror movie night has been quality new scares.

Bliss - I'd make a joke about the anti-twilight, but this is more 3- Days of Night + punk art and more drugs then three hair metal bands reduced down to their essential saltes. Exceedingly gory, mondo demented, good soundtrack if you like punk/metal, and it's got surprises for you. FYI, lots of strobe effects, take into account when viewing. 5 out of 5 bloody snacks.

Prey - Troubled teen on a 'deserted' island tries to learn about himself, finds cute fellow teen, and a monster in the jungle. Kind of predictable, but the lead teen plays it well, just enough awkward to see, yes I'm a teen, but still sympathetic and interesting. The fact he goes from well, me in the woods to Rambo/The Guy in Predator in 2 lessons and about 40 hours in the jungle is a bit over the top, but history is full of people doing amazing things to impress someone they find cute. 3.5 out of 5 bad travel decisions.

And on that note, I'm off to read. Found a 'new' (to me) author "In the vein of M.R. James" so I'm off to creepy stuff found by antiquarians. Night all.

The Vulpine Visits the Black Lagoon

Well I got to have a long weekend and a road trip. Took half of Thursday and Friday off to jaunt on down to Austin to see a screening of 'Creature From the Black Lagoon' and meet Mallory O'Meara/ who wrote a book on the creator of the Creature's costume, Milicent Patrick. And while I was down there, I'd do so book hunting. So I rented a car (I have horrible luck with driving between DFW and Austin), and headed down. Drive was fine, the voice in my phone took me on a long loop to avoid I-35 downtown traffic (which is forever a nightmare.) Stayed in my first AirBnB, one of a little cluster of cabins. Nice, cozy, with an attached kitchenette and bathroom. Got settled in, then went out to find some dinner, then to the Alamo Drafthouse for the screening.

First time I've seen 'Creature' on the big screen, and in 3D. I had a less than perfect seat, but that's what I get for waiting til the last minute. Got a bit of a headache from the angle, but it was still a lot of fun to watch. Then Mallory and the guy from 'Birth, Movies, Death' talked about to book, the creature, and Milicent. Along with more general movie making stuff, and women in filmmaking. Then Q&A, including my question about dream remake casting/directing. Then it was time for book signing. Mallory recognized me, nothing like having someone you're a fan of yell out 'Chris, you made it!' Talked about the screening for a few minutes, got my book signed, and walked off grinning. I highly recommend supporting your fellow fanpeople when they're writing a book. It's good karma all around.

Went back to the AirBnB, read for a bit and crashed. Woke up Friday, got stuff organized and myself ready for a day of bookhunting. Raided a bunch of used bookstores, along with visiting Book People. It's been almost 15 years since I visited it, but nothing had really changed. All my usually sections were in the same places, and the 2nd floor smelled like incense. Did some major damage to the bank account, but boy I came home with some goodies. Finally left the Austin area around 1500, drove back up to DFW. No really bad traffic, a few spots of slowdown, but I timed it well. Was home a little after 1900.

So a quick, but fun trip to meet a fellow monster/horror geek, see a classic movie, and add to my book addiction. If that's not a good way to spend a couple of days, I don't know what is.

Random microblog posts from the weekend

Saturday 21:45
'Black Panther' was simply amazing. The heroes are heroic (with the female leads stealing the show), the antagonists aren't just bad, for the most part you can see how their views conflict with T'challa, so better than most bad guys in comic movies. Lots of good fight scenes, lots of great one liners and character interaction. Plus, the depiction of Wakanda is just amazing. One foot in traditional cultures, one foot in the future and just plain nifty. My one complaint, I wanted more of a tour of Wakanda vs superfights. But I can hope for special features on the bluray.
5 out of 5 Vibranium Claws.

Sunday 16:29
Going to the store today took my last bits of ability to cope with humanity. The urge to scream 'Move your ass' at the people ahead of me in check out was almost uncontrollable. Possibly in Koine Greek because life should be interesting like that. (note to self, learn to say 'move your ass' in Koine Greek before going to the airport next week). At home now, doing laundry. Cthulhu bless my gillslits, I'm tired.

Sunday 16:55
Well last night's dreams were weird. From historical churches with ancient cults and exorcism schools (convenient placement there), to fighting against a zombie horde invading random suburbia with one of those magic movie katanas that is more lightsaber than steel in it's ability to remove limbs. I'll take zombies apocalypse and horrors from beyond space time over my usual anxiety dreams.

Sunday 17:19
Last night after 'Black Panther' we stopped by the nearby Half Price Books. I didn't get anything, nothing I couldn't live without, and I have plenty of book shopping plans for the trip to Providence. But I did find, in the rare/nostalgia section, volumes one and two of "The Encyclopaedia of Russian Crime Tattoos." Not something you find in bookstores every day. Almost got them for the oddness factor, I think they were $30 each. (If anyone is interested in them, I can send you the info of the store, I'm sure they'd be willing to ship for a reasonable fee, or I could pick them up and you could pay me back. I'm sure one of my author or game designer friends could make good use of them)

Sunday: 19:32
Self quote of the day.

"Must try to stop reading the Latin aloud, just frickin' Google it!"

Sick fox is recovering

Not been doing good healthwise. Thought I had a bad sinus infection, but I woke up yesterday in major pain centered around a tooth. So yay, dentist. I'm very phobic about dentists. They ended up extracting the tooth, which was a royal pain in the jaw because I'm a mutant, and I have extra roots that extend deep into the jaw. So it took forever to extract, I had to repeatedly remind myself that clenching up every muscle wasn't going to help things. Still I came out of it in more pain in my joints and neck than in my jaw. My hands were shaking and I felt light headed most of last night, and I barely slept. Took today off as comp time (working on President's day, a Carcosa Corp holiday). I'm mostly spending today eating soft food and watching 80's horror movies. I'm hoping I'm back to normal enough to spend some time with friends tomorrow.

Providence trip is a week from tomorrow. I'm kind of a basket case about it at the moment, the trip, the state of me, etc. To be honest, I've thought about canceling it...will decide later on. 'Try to avoid major decisions when depressed, in pain, or stressed'. So we'll see. *sigh*

On the bright side I've read a lot of good books in the last week. I highly recommend 'Widow's Point' by Richard and Billy Chizmar, a classic ghost story that grabs you and doesn't let go. If you like military sci-fiesque, 'The Void' by Greig Beck won't let you down. Super-soldiers vs space monsters. If you rather have movies, 'The Ritual', an adaptation of Adam Nevill's novel will convince you to never go hiking again. Or if you want horror comedy gore, see 'Victor Crowley', the 4th 'Hatchet' movie. So that's my random one line reviews.

That's about it. Hoping I can make til bedtime tonight, and get some real sleep. I'll also like it when my body stops being in full flake mode. Have a good night boys and ghouls.

The Shape of Water

Went to see 'The Shape of Water' today with Nymaz. Been looking forward to seeing this since it was announced. It was an amazing film. Like his 'Crimson Peak', which was a mystery that happened to have ghosts in it, this was a love story that happened to have a fish person in it. The only monsters in it were people. The two most emotive characters don't speak verbally, there's sign language, but as much of the dialog was in body posture, head tilts, stuff like that. There's even a couple of musical numbers, one of which was probably my favorite scene in the movie. The bad guy isn't a cartoon villain, there's a logic to his actions and he's obviously a product of his career. Everything meshes and it plays out near perfect. Well, bad things happen to a cat, which I could have passed on. But it is understandable in context. And yes, there is fishperson sex. And weird straight people sex, and lonely person sex. Might not be to your tastes, but I don't think it's that big a deal. Also, keep your eyes out for little easter eggs and references. Oh yeah, I wouldn't call it Lovecraftian, definitely weird though. Long story short, if you like del Toro, and want a movie with a very positive message about like and love and being 'human', go see it. 5 out of 5 flared gill slits.

As it was written in the Scrolls of Sutekh…

Well it's the weekend again, so it means I should throw some words on virtual paper. Get the brainmeats out of the way quick, being back on seroquel means I'm sleeping more/better, but my anxiety is still way out there. (not expecting immediate fix, I know better). Depression lurks in a ninja kind of way, I see good things, I feel good things, but it leaps out every now and again in a nihilistic kind of way that reminds me that I'm still rather broken. But I've been broken before, and I've put myself together, repeatedly. I am a New Yorker after all, we're survivors.

So enough strum und drang. What is best in life Vulpine? Well, I'm not Conan, so lets start with books. Been reading a bunch of old school Mythos still. Got a pile of other stuff to read, but other than a little history it's all tentaclular horrors. Listened/ing to a few books by Charlie Stross to get in the mood for his latest Laundry File book next month. Not the whole series, just enough to get back in the series. So many books, so little time.

Went to see 'The Mummy' today. A solid bit of cheese, with a side of ham from Russell Crowe. Yes it could have been much better, but it still was fun and Sofia Boutella was a nice mix of creepy, evil, and lovely. Plus, she was literally covered in hieratic script, so a walking book. Sign me up for the cult please. *grin* Also, for any Lovecraftians who've seen it, did anyone look at the red jewel McGuffin and think 'Shining Trapezohedron' ? Or was that just me trying to make everything into a Mythos reference

What will I do tomorrow? Probably just chores and stuff. Been meaning to clean up the bedroom for months now, may just pop an audiobook or podcast in and spend a while in there trying to get things organized. This is alongside a store run, laundry and similar stuff, so I may set reasonable goals instead. Assuming I don't just hide in bed with a book, or within a movie marathon of cheese and gore. We'll see. For now though, going to call this a post before it's technically Sunday. Laters cultists.

Deep Ones at the Movies – Alien: Covenant

Back from 'Alien: Covenant'. Quick review, it's not bad. It's not great, it's not spectacular, but if you came for face hugs and chest bursts and general mayhem, you won't be terribly disappointed. Could have used some peppier mid movie foo (kind of dragged), and people would have been just fine if they just stuck to the program, but people making bad decisions = a horror movie. Otherwise, it's a travelogue. 3.5 out of 5 xenomorphs, and I'll be buying it on bluray/dvd when it comes out.

Vulpine Goes to the Movies: Ghost in the Shell & Life

Well yesterday I went on a Sci-Fi fest with Amythest and Nymaz. Went to see 'Ghost in the Shell' and 'Life'. So I thought I'd throw together some reviews.

I'm not going to comment on the various controversies about 'Ghost in the Shell'. Just going to describe what I saw. It's a very stylistic, cyber punky movie. Shiny and grimy at the same time. Scarlett Johansson looks really good as the Major, but her acting was very cyborgish. The various anime versions of the Major shows her with snark and emotions. The plot is a mix of the original GitS and Stand Alone Complex, with some added backstory that really wasn't necessary. On the plus side, the effects are good, and the action scenes are dynamic. And since I have a major crush on ms Scarlett, even if her acting was kind of wooden, it was enjoyable to watch. Glad I saw it on the big screen, and I'll probably pick it up on dvd/bluray, but if I'm wanting a cyberpunk fix, I'll probably turn to 'Stand Alone Complex' or the original movie (which I'm watching now). 3 out of 5 ghosts in the machine.

Then we went to see 'Life'. Now this was a fun movie. Alien life form examined on the ISS. Alien life form runs amok, fun is had. Unlike 'Prometheus' the scientists don't make completely stupid decisions. They make mistakes, but they're understandable ones. None of the characters are 'mad scientists', and are all pretty likable. The monster is shoggoth-y and the CGI was very well done. There's even a Lovecraft shout out in the beginning, which made me a very happy cultist. Lots of 'Alien' themes, and some 'The Thing' flavors, but with it's own way of doing things. It's also pretty bleak, as most good SciFi/Horror is, keep in mind. Will definitely watch repeatedly once I have it in my hot little pseudopods. I think it gets 5 out of 5 flailing pseudopods.

So that's Vulpine at the movies. Had a good time, even if I wasn't feeling too good. Hopefully next weekend I'll get to see another Lovecraftian flick, 'The Void'. If not, it will be on DVD soon. Ok, catch you all later.