I nominate certain friends whose verses so often rock the house:
1) Stanley Anne Zane Latham,
2) Dennis Villelmi,
3) Philippe Atherton-Blenkiron,
4) Sean Macro, and
5) Anna Marie Martin.
Here is how it was explained to me … if you accept your nomination, then you are challenged to write and post a new poem each day, over the course of five days. Your piece should appear on Facebook, and your blog, if you have one. You also must nominate at least one other person. 🙂
… then watch the unrated cut. The return of the excised footage actually makes the battle scenes less disconnected and easier to follow.
It also seems like an example of how arbitrary and silly are the sensibilities of the censors of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). CGI-rendered blood flows are apparently too much for certain audiences, yet those same audiences paid to see a film about a global zombie holocaust. Entire cities fall, but certain individual bites and head-blows are too much for the more delicate filmgoers?
The late Roger Ebert had a few interesting things to say about the MPAA, how it works, and its influence on theater owners and audiences — if I ever run across those particular columns again, I’ll link here to them. What some people don’t realize is that the MPAA is not a government agency like the Federal Communications Commission — it’s a voluntary trade association composed of the major studios. And the whole thing seems pretty weird to me.
I still maintain that this movie is terrific. The plane scene alone … yeesh. And there actually IS an in-universe justification for the zombie locked in the airplane bathroom. Read Max Brooks’ incredible novel for an explanation of why certain infectees take longer to turn into monsters.
OH MY GOSH!! GREAT NEWS!! I’ve tried Windows 10!! And it SUCKS!!
Okay … maybe that’s more like annoying news or sad news. Whatever. You heard it here FIRST!!!
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[EDIT: Wiser minds have informed me that I cannot actually be running Windows 10, because it hasn’t been released yet. Yes, I am so confused by my new computer that I cannot determine its platform.]
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[UPDATE: I click “New Tab” and all I get is a white screen with the words “New Tab” spelled across it!! It’s like some minimalist art project designed to f@$% with me!! It’s 3:15 AM, for God’s sake!!]
The independent werewolf movie “Late Phases” has been getting a lot of positive buzz among horror fans — and it deserves it. This is a smartly written, well performed fright flick to which I’d give an 8 out of 10.
Nick Damici hands in an understated but perfect performance as a blind Vietnam War veteran antihero. Don’t worry — his blindness is not a gimmick, it’s more of an interesting plot element. (And, by the way, here’s a little trivia — Damici is also the screenwriter for 2010’s outstanding “Stake Land.”)
Tom Noonan is fantastic, as always. Has he ever given a poor performance? I sooooooo loved him trading barbed quips with Fox Mulder as an evil vacuum cleaner salesman — that was one of the best episodes of “The X Files” ever. And am I a weird guy if I think his voice sounds hypnotic?
Regrettably, this film suffers just a little from something its makers probably couldn’t help — a limited special effects budget. We are definitely in the habitat here of man-in-a-suit werewolves, and it does show. Most of my friends who are serious horror buffs will not mind this, but I noticed, and it did “take me out of the movie” just a little. So many people lament the overuse of CGI in today’s movies. I think that when it’s absent entirely, you can start to miss it.
This is still a really good movie, though. It’s on Netflix. Give it a look.
“Dear, though the night is gone,” by W.H. Auden
Dear, though the night is gone,
Its dream still haunts today,
That brought us to a room
Cavernous, lofty as
A railway terminus,
And crowded in that gloom
Were beds, and we in one
In a far corner lay.
Our whisper woke no clocks,
We kissed and I was glad
At everything you did,
Indifferent to those
Who sat with hostile eyes
In pairs on every bed,
Arms round each other’s neck,
Inert and vaguely sad.
O but what worm of guilt
Or what malignant doubt
Am I the victim of,
That you then, unabashed,
Did what I never wished,
Confessed another love;
And I, submissive, felt
Unwanted and went out?
W.H. Auden
“Hearing reveals new details in Grace Mann murder case,” Keith Epps, Free Lance Star, 6/16/15.
This article describes the crime scene in detail, as well as allegations about the events leading up to the homicide. Please note that the story is disturbing before reading it.
The first episode of Netflix’ new “Between” web series (2015) reminds me a hell of a lot of “Jericho” (2006). It takes a frightening science fiction premise and then generally fails to execute anything terribly scary or thrilling. “Jericho” told the story of a small town surviving a mysterious nuclear holocaust — it looked to be a serialized “The Day After” (1983), but ultimately became a chipper, too-safe family drama that almost seemed to channel “The Waltons” (1971).
The premiere of “Between” introduces us to the small town of Pretty Lake, where a mysterious illness is killing anyone over the age of 22 … which is kind of convenient for the young-adult target audience that this show is going for. The show sounded like an update of “The Andromeda Strain” film adaptation in 1971. But after we see the town quarantined, it seems to borrow a page or two from the television treatment of Stephen King’s “Under The Dome” (2013). (I really disliked that book, and have heard some pretty mixed things about the tv show.)
“Between” has a few things going for it, like well-scripted characters and capable young actors. But it has problems with pacing and tension. There’s a nice flourish here and there, including the shot you see below. But for a tv show about a potentially world-ending plague, it fails to scare. I’d give this first episode a 5 out of 10.
What’s the deal with naming the town “Pretty Lake,” anyway? Is it intentionally generic for thematic reasons, or just lazy screenwriting? Are neighboring towns “Big Mountain” and “Long River?”
I am reblogging my post last year of the classic “The Most Dangerous Game.”
Because it is, in General Zaroff’s word, “SPLENDID!!” And because my ol’ buddy Anna Martin told me she disliked it, and I’m passive-aggressive.
Careful about treading upon the stories venerated by New York Irish Catholic traditions, Anna!! Don’t make me release the Saki and O’Henry hounds next!!
Eric Robert Nolan, Author 