The Life and Times of a Midwestern Movie Addict

Could that possibly be the best tagline for a movie ever?  At least one of the best.  It is so simple and yet so chilling.  It makes you think about the isolation and the silence of space while also wondering what horrible occurrence would make one want to scream.  The publicists of Alien must have really understood what director Ridley Scott and company were trying to accomplish with Dan O'Bannon's and Ronald Shusett's spec script that looked at horror science fiction in a lens that went beyond the typical B-movie 'monsters-in-suits' films that audiences had seen before.  With 2001: A Space Odessey and Star Wars having reinvented and reinvigorated science fiction as a viable film genre, 20th Century Fox was hungry for a new A-list sci-fi project to sell to the public.  They couldn't have been prepared for the critical success that it would receive or the franchise that it would sprout from it.  But you don't want a history lesson, you want to hear a...

Some films just can't ever seem to get a fair shake due to audience perception.  Its inevitable that sequels disappoint the fans who made the originals popular, taking into account that many sequels are rushed and poorly put together, but some sequels get flack when they aren't really bad.  Not as good sure, different sometimes, but not bad.  Horror fans are the worst at this as they love to say what is most important to them in their films, but then rate newer films on a different set of standards entirely.  In this case, the horror sequel simply cannot win.  Once again, I reiterate that many sequels are truly terrible, but not as many as the vocal community would have us believe.  This is of course acknowledging the sequels that follow the same thread from one film to another and allows us to know what to expect...but what of the sequel that is unrelated to the previous film?  These don't happen often, but when they do fans tend to have a special sto...

In the life of a movie lover such as myself, there comes a film that forever changes who you are and your perception of life forever (edit: there are often several films that do this) and it is these films that remain our favorites forever.  The film I want to talk about today did several things, not just for me, but for pop culture itself.  For me, it introduced me to one of my favorite oddball musicals and facilitated an introduction to my best friend in high school (if we had not seen it at that time, we might not have made our connection).  For pop culture, it has become THE template for the cult film...which is a film that has a concentrated and rabid base of fans who are a subset of the average film fan.  It has also introduced lines, songs, and even dances into the American lexicon of entertainment and has become one of the longest running and more interactive theatrical films of all time.  To this day, even though it is 35 years old, the film still plays...

As Halloween approaches, most people will be watching and reviewing such classics as Halloween and Psycho for the holiday...reveling in the acclaim and classy stature that those well known genre-favorites hold while not taking too big a risk in watching and embracing critical darlings.  I however, while enjoying those movies, like to tackle lesser known and decidedly trashier fare from the 80s during my Halloween revelry.  Many of these horror films aren't terribly good or well-acted, the one I plan to look at today is particularly bad in the acting department, but damn if they don't manage to consistently unsettle me...perhaps even more-so than Halloween or Friday the 13th .  Maybe its their gritty look and no-budget approach, or perhaps its the dark and depressing atmosphere, or maybe its even the idea that sometimes its not overly obvious who will and who won't survive.  Either way, these nasty and trashy films are surely worth watching around All Hallows Eve to ...

This week has been pretty easy so far and I don't mind that at all after the whirlwind of last week.  I've got the kids working on a project in the library and we've only got two days left in the week before its over.  Then I have a comfy three day weekend and two teacher workdays before I see the kids again.  It'll be a nice break, and will be matched with several more great bluray releases this month.  Last week saw the release of Grindhouse , and then The Exorcist and finally this Disney classic from 1991.  I recall seeing this one in the theater the Christmas of 1991, which was particularly magical as it was the first time I'd ever been to Disney World as well.  It was expected to be as fun and enthralling as The Little Mermaid had been but I don't think anyone could have predicted the success and acclaim that it would gain upon its initial release.  To this day, its still my mom's favorite animated Disney classic and always manages to make both of...

Its October...the air is getting chillier, the leaves are turning, and the scent of woodsmoke is in the air. Fall is a great time of year, it gives us a break from the heat and humidity of summer without the bleak dead-ness of winter. Another great thing about fall is the holidays it holds, including Thanksgiving and Halloween. Halloween is my personal favorite because of all the spooky wonder it holds. I don't really do costumes anymore, with the exception of the occasional Athens celebration, but I do enjoy Horror films and the occasional spooky walk through the local cemetery. Oh, and the candy is good too. Beginning my run through horror films this month is a classic both of film and of literature. In the 70s it confronted the country with the idea that true evil exists in the world and often lashes out against good for no reason. It also used the themes within Christianity to show that evil. The film really needs no introduction, so lets get right to it. I give you, Th...

Today went rather smoothly, though I could have totally given more to my juniors...they had at least 10 minutes of down time.  Tomorrow is the first block day and I'm still nervous about it, but I think I've loaded enough things into it to keep the kids busy. There will be whining and gnashing of teeth, but they'd do that anyway.  Besides, we won't know how much more or less we have to plan for these long periods until we do it the first time right?  I can always pull things our of my ass if I have to.  Its all about making it relevant and creating teaching moments...that's what you have to do as a teacher.  And just because you make up an assignment on the fly doesn't mean it isn't a valid assignment.  Anyway, I'm just gonna relax and decompress with some exploitation theater tonight...in the meantime however I have the honor of bringing you another Disney family classic starring the irrepressible Hayley Mills along side....Hayley Mills.  Lets get int...

Wow, what a blah weekend I had.  I did not enjoy Friday very much, for reasons I don't really understand.  I think its because possibly I wanted to have plans and didn't, plus I knew I was going to lose my Saturday evening at the dance.  I think I just felt like I didn't have the 'me' time that I wanted...plus I had to plan for the block periods and didn't really do it how I meant to...but I did manage to do it in my own way.  I know what I'm going to do now, but since its my first time with block I'm not sure if I'll do it well.  I guess I can only get through the day and see how it all goes.  I'm sure it will be fine...but I tend to worry the first time through things.  However, I'm also glad about this week because there's a new Blu-ray coming out tomorrow that I can afford and its our last 5 day school week for a while.  I guess I'm playing the Glad Game, which is a great little game to play when one feels 'blah'.  I know,...

Well, its been a strangely blah weekend with many ups and middles (no downs really...just spots where I wish I could have had more ups).  I finally started to cheer up yesterday, and then went to the Homecoming Dance to watch the kiddos.  That ended up being more fun that I thought it would be because I got partnered with one of the new math teachers and she was a lot of fun to talk to.  We told funny stories and chatted with our students all evening.  If it hadn't been for two fights (oh the drama) the night would have been super.  Then I slept like a baby, though I did notice that the house was getting chillier.  So I've got the heat on low today to help get me used to it.  Xander's been feeling a chill too, so I turned his heating pad on.  He was happy as a...well....snake, balled up under his log.  He got fed today too, which always makes him pleasant to be around.  You can't handle him for two days after a feeding, which always make...

I am amazed, usually when I watch something...even if its not something that I ever feel like watching again...I can usually find some kind words or a good part or two.  However, last night I caught one on Youtube that really was bad...and not in the good way (unless you're already drunk with some friends I suppose...but if you're already that drunk you'd probably be falling asleep).  I felt like a bad movie could possibly cheer me up, since I was rather blah yesterday, but alas...no.  Well, I might as well dive in...talking about a bad movie is like ripping off a Band-Aid...best to just do it quick and get it over with.  So lets look at the 1971 stinker, Octaman . A scientific expedition in Mexico discovers several unusual baby octopus specimens in the radiation contaminated water nearby.  They can't help noticing that it has eyes in front, like a human, and that it is larger than a normal octopus (yet for some reason, the requisite hot foreign girl keeps ...