October 30: A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors. Rating: 4/5. Comment: I cried…again, when Nancy died. This is head and shoulders above the second one, and, while the original will always be my favorite, this comes in at a distant, but notable, second.
Peace and love.
October 30: The Lazarus Effect. Rating: 2/5. Comment: I wanted to like this movie. Like, I overlooked some series misgivings at the beginning. I made excuses for it. I willed myself to keep liking it, long after the moment had passed. I was invested in it. But the fault, dear readers, is not in my stars, but in this movie. It was the nonsensical and contradictory script’s fault. It was the played-out “science taken too far” plot’s fault. It was the sacrilegious “I’ve been forgiven my despair and opened my soul to Heaven yet still remain monstrous and half-alive on Earth” ending’s fault. It was the inconceivable “let’s have the dog die twice” notion’s fault. The more I think about this bomb, the more I hate it. But I still kind of like it a little. Because I can’t let go. . . much like the main character. I hate myself for loving it.
Peace and love.
October 29: Scary Movie. Rating: 5/5. Comment: I heart this movie (and subsequent sequels). It’s got every type of humor: slapstick, wit, allusion, innuendo, and mockery. I can’t help but laugh out loud every time I watch it. (“Cindy, do you know where I am?” “Ummm…You’re behind the couch. I can see your feet.”) It is my guilty pleasure.
Peace and love.
October 29: Tales from the Darkside: A Clone by the Telephone. Rating: 2/5. Comment: Besides being almost completely outdated, this episode was not up to the standards I am used to from this series. The answering machine having a life of its own was confounding to me. A clone in an alternate universe has nothing better to do than stalk the other half of himself in our world? That’s lame.
Peace and love.
October 28: 1408. Rating: 4/5. Comment: I thought this was a much better movie than it was a short story. John Cusack gives an exceptional performance despite most of the action taking place in a single hotel room and revolving around one character.
Peace and love.
October 28: Sweeney Todd. Rating: 5/5. Comment: This musical is way beyond amazing. Johnny Depp is a Renaissance man, while Helena Bonham Carter once again holds her own. In turn of the (last) century London, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street takes down his enemies (as well as complete strangers) one by one in a truly inspired and gruesome fashion. I highly recommend you check this out after you put the kids to bed.
Peace and love.
October 27: The Nightmare Before Christmas. Rating: 5/5. Comment: In honor of today’s blizzard (I truly wish I was lying), Josh and I decided that this was exactly what we needed to prepare us for Halloween and put us in a winter mood. Its original excellence has never wavered, and its musical score is both catchy and brilliant. I fear my students have never seen it; the thought honestly makes me sad.
Peace and love.
October 27: Scream 2. Rating: 1/5. Comment: I didn’t care much for the first one, and I thought this one was even worse. Skip it.
Peace and love.
October 26: Drag Me to Hell: 1/5. Comment: I expected better from the director of Spider-Man, but what I got clearly came from the creator of Evil Dead. Throughout the flick I had the funny feeling I had seen it before. When it ended, I knew I had, in the form of Stephen King’s Thinner.
Peace and love.
October 26: Tales from the Darkside: A Case of the Stubborns. Rating: 4/5. Comment: This episode was about a man who refused to die until he was sure the was dead. It was so creepy and the decay seemed so realistic that it actual made me feel genuine angst. I really enjoyed it, and it had a few big-name actors, but I won’t tell you who so you have incentive to watch it.
Peace and love.
