Roanoke College.
College Lutheran Church.
I keep telling people on my native Long Island how hilly it is in Southwest Virginia. Depending on where you live, you might need to walk up or down just to visit your nextdoor neighbor. It seems like nothing to people who raised here. But it can feel utterly strange at first to anyone who grew up in a region that is almost uniformly flat.
Do millennials even know about the 1980’s “Fletch” movies? Many years ago, I read reports that a “Fletch Won” prequel was being planned, with the incomparable Jason Lee as a younger version of the wiseass reporter. How awesome would it be if those plans had ever reached fruition?
Marvel Comics.
True to its manga origins, Netflix’ “Death Note” (2017) seems cartoonish and sometimes intentionally silly. That doesn’t stop it from being a lot of fun, though — this is the most original, offbeat horror tale I’ve seen in a while, and I’d rate it an 8 out of 10.
It’s definitely a genre-buster — it’s one part comic book, one part horror tale, one part eastern theological fantasy and one part dark teen romance. It succeeds in part because it has an interesting supernatural story setup that seems reminiscent an episode of “The X-Files.” (A magical notebook allows it owner to sentence anyone to death, simply by writing the victim’s name down, and describing how they die.)
It also succeeds because it has a great bogeyman — a seemingly omnipotent demon named Ryuk. His visual design is creative and wickedly creepy, and his character is menacingly voiced by none other than Willem Dafoe.
Finally, Shea Whigham is very good as the teen protagonist’s tough but likable dad. I thought I remembered him only from his relatively minor role in this year’s “Kong Skull Island.” But, as it turns out, he was actually the sympathetic escaped convict from 2008’s criminally underrated monster movie, “Splinter.” He’s a great actor.
I really liked this. I’d recommend it.
I don’t pay much attention to the “solstices.” (A solstice is a pagan god, right?) But it doesn’t matter — every school kid knows that summer ends when September begins and school is about to start.
Well, that flew by, didn’t it? I have it on good authority (read: everybody older than me) that the older you get, the faster the time flies right by you.
That’s a little scary.
[Update: Guys, I was joking earlier when I said that I did not know what a solstice was. I’m receiving educational e-mails about the subject from every hippy in the world who is not high right now (all seven of them).]
The first is a terrible picture, of course; it was taken from a moving car. I’m sharing it here anyway, because I still like the effect of the backlit entrance to the Confederate Cemetery at dusk.
The second photo is of houses on Amelia Street.
Marvel Comics.
I just shared this on Facebook. It’s Mystery Science Theater 3000’s treatment of a 50’s-era training short, “Out of This World.”
You can see the ominous great sable shape of the moon as it slowly encroaches waiiiiiiiiiiiiiitaminute that’s my giant white nerd head about to obscure the sun. Sorry.
(You can tell by the glasses.)
“Hothouse” story arc. DC Comics.
Eric Robert Nolan, Author 