So, yeah...I totally quit smoking. I can't believe it. I mean, I know I said it before but, I'm going on two weeks now. I think it's for good. I spent my entire 20s out of breath. I'm pretty sickly as it is. I mean, I don't care if I die young (I'm free tomorrow actually) but why make it needlessly painful? Cancer aside, it's just a pain in the ass to live with a limited lung capacity. I know people who run AND smoke and I completely expect them to drop dead of a heart attack before 35. Perhaps now I won't have to shamefully try to hide the fact that I'm starving for oxygen by the time I climb 4 flights to DeAnne's place. Of course pot will probably prolong my recovery. I wonder if my lungs will ever be pink again. Pink is for girls. Black is for tough guys. It's still the coolest way to kill yourself and deep-down in my tumor-ridden heart, I'll always be a smoker.
Hannah told me I can spin any Tuesdays I want now. But I sincerely don't know if I can do it anymore. I wish I were doing better these days. Every part of my life is really taking a hit this go-round. Just can't get out, but for work. And work is suffering too. Generally just feeling like a pathetic cripple (SFU shout-out, yo) and a cry-baby.
Jeez, if you don't have anything good to say...
Did a couple more of these:
MONSTERS CRASH THE PAJAMA PARTY
A classic example of the lost art of the "spook show" when artful movie distributors would road-show gimmicky theatrics to accompany their low-rent cinematic offerings. Often action on-screen would be integrated with planted "actors" in the audience. MCTPP is actually a product of the waning period of this phenom but it's still a perfect case-study for the time capsule. All of that aside, it's certainly not scary or funny. It's roughly akin to watching a filmed community theater project, but I doubt that quality was a top priority. Still, there's enough mad-scientist-man-in-a-gorilla-suit action to help it retain some scrappy charm. For historical significance alone: **
TORMENTED!
When Richard Carlson's mistress threatens to bust up his engagement he lets her fall to her death from the top of a lighthouse(!) It's oddly upsetting to see Carlson, such the hero in Creature of the Black Lagoon, playing such a heel. Before the picture's over he contemplates killing a child (!!) But there's a price to pay for this kind of nastiness. The mistress's disembodied head starts popping up everywhere to throw some of the title sentiment at evil exboyfriend. She's on walls, atop coffee tables and superimposed as what looks like a Colorform on a polaroid snapshot. There's a "twist ending" that's telegraphed from about the first ten minutes in. The young girl who plays Carlson's would-be step daughter is impressively engaging and generally better than the adults around her in this scare-free but funny turkey. **
HORROR HOTEL
Christopher Lee doesn't really star in this genuinely spooky witch flick, but he's in it. A cute co-coed travels to a small Massachusettes village to research the local witch folklore (and she's way hotter than Heather Donahue). Things don't go as planned. There are some surprising twists and turns and the story rates as one of the best in it's cinematic genre, though that's not saying too much. It looks like special care was taken to make this movie look good - the fog, the noir lighting. Watch for some bizarre parallels to Psycho, which you'd assume was being ripped off - but they were made within a year of one another. Moody and eerie with plenty of well-crafted scares. One of the only witch movies I'll recommend without hesitation. Clips from it were used in the supplemental short film, Curse of the Blair Witch. ***
Hannah told me I can spin any Tuesdays I want now. But I sincerely don't know if I can do it anymore. I wish I were doing better these days. Every part of my life is really taking a hit this go-round. Just can't get out, but for work. And work is suffering too. Generally just feeling like a pathetic cripple (SFU shout-out, yo) and a cry-baby.
Jeez, if you don't have anything good to say...
Did a couple more of these:
MONSTERS CRASH THE PAJAMA PARTY
A classic example of the lost art of the "spook show" when artful movie distributors would road-show gimmicky theatrics to accompany their low-rent cinematic offerings. Often action on-screen would be integrated with planted "actors" in the audience. MCTPP is actually a product of the waning period of this phenom but it's still a perfect case-study for the time capsule. All of that aside, it's certainly not scary or funny. It's roughly akin to watching a filmed community theater project, but I doubt that quality was a top priority. Still, there's enough mad-scientist-man-in-a-gorilla-suit action to help it retain some scrappy charm. For historical significance alone: **
TORMENTED!
When Richard Carlson's mistress threatens to bust up his engagement he lets her fall to her death from the top of a lighthouse(!) It's oddly upsetting to see Carlson, such the hero in Creature of the Black Lagoon, playing such a heel. Before the picture's over he contemplates killing a child (!!) But there's a price to pay for this kind of nastiness. The mistress's disembodied head starts popping up everywhere to throw some of the title sentiment at evil exboyfriend. She's on walls, atop coffee tables and superimposed as what looks like a Colorform on a polaroid snapshot. There's a "twist ending" that's telegraphed from about the first ten minutes in. The young girl who plays Carlson's would-be step daughter is impressively engaging and generally better than the adults around her in this scare-free but funny turkey. **
HORROR HOTEL
Christopher Lee doesn't really star in this genuinely spooky witch flick, but he's in it. A cute co-coed travels to a small Massachusettes village to research the local witch folklore (and she's way hotter than Heather Donahue). Things don't go as planned. There are some surprising twists and turns and the story rates as one of the best in it's cinematic genre, though that's not saying too much. It looks like special care was taken to make this movie look good - the fog, the noir lighting. Watch for some bizarre parallels to Psycho, which you'd assume was being ripped off - but they were made within a year of one another. Moody and eerie with plenty of well-crafted scares. One of the only witch movies I'll recommend without hesitation. Clips from it were used in the supplemental short film, Curse of the Blair Witch. ***
Nice reviews by the way!