Happy Thanksgiving from the Insomniac Theater!

A major part of every holiday is gathering together with loved ones and sharing a special meal.

Thanksgiving dinner is awesome unless you're what's for dinner.

Insomniac Theater Presents Blood and Roses (Roger Vadim, 1961)

Last night, or early this morning, since I didn't start it until after midnight, I watched Roger Vadim's 1961 vampire film, Blood and Roses, loosely based on Sheridan Le Fanu's 1875 novella, Carmilla. Carmilla has been adapted for film many times, probably the most well known and accurate adaptation of is Hammer Film's The Vampire Lovers (1970, with Ingrid Pitt).  The Vampire Lovers was the first part of Hammer's famous, sexier, lesbian-ic vampire trilogy, The Karnstein Trilogy.  I first read the story in 1977 in a pulp magazine that I bought in a bus station.  It  featured lots of shots of Ingrid Pitt, Yutte Stensgaard, the Collinson twins and their decolletage.

Elvis Costello

I want to thank Ted for reminding me what a great artist Elvis Costello is.  Elvis Costello and his music has touched my life many times, as a child, growing up and as an adult.

Beyond the Black Rainbow (Panos Cosmatos, 2010)

Psychotronic, when applied to movies, loosely means quirky and obscure  (thank you, Wikipedia)  Quirky and obscure pretty much describe all my favorite films.

Last night, or rather, early this morning, my film fan friends and I saw Beyond the Black Rainbow at one of the Psychotronic Film Society of Savannah's monthly Friday night midnight shows (I am sad to say it was the first time I had ever been to one, hopefully it won't be the last!).

The Skull (1965, Freddie Francis) Trailer

Found this today in a bargain bin; I am going to watch it tonight:

 

Vampyros Lesbos (Jesus Franco, 1971)

Jesus (Jess) Franco is an extremely frustrating film maker to appreciate.  If the trailer for his latest film, Crypt of the Condemned is any indication, his latest film is a soft core (maybe hard core?) pornographic film that takes place solely in an apartment with three naked and extremely friendly women.  But he also is responsible for for one of the greatest, modern vampire movies, 1971's Vampyros Lesbos.

Brave (2012), not the usual princess fantasy

(Bloggers often assume their readers are interested in why they posted in a while.  I have no such illusions.And even if I did feel the need, there really isn't any good explanation.  So, onto Brave.)

My granddaughter and I have been watching tons of kids movies (I think I will wait another year before introducing her to Let the Right One In).  Often, they are painful to watch:  So full of confusing plots, dialogue mostly consisting of sounds of surprise, and saccharine musical numbers that I find myself praying for the commercial breaks.

The musical numbers are the worst part.

Despite my lifelong hatred of Disney, (as a child, my parents dragged me to every Disney film that played in our local theater.  When I say every, I mean not just the ones in the recognized canon, I am also talking about the nature flicks.  Disney nature films never vary-cute, playful animals struggling in a literal fight for their lives against human oppressors, who relentlessly hunt, poison, tortured, etc. them. Fuck you, Walt Disney, for ruining my childhood).

Portos dos Morto arrived!

I just got my copy, now i need to find a place and time to watch it (away from my 4 year old grand daughter.)

Portos dos Mortos II

Earlier today I posted this.

A few hours ago, I received this via Facebook:

Hi!
My name is Isidoro B. Guggiana, producer of "Beyond the Grave". I saw the post on your blog. Are you interested in an English subtitled screener?

Holy Shnikes!

Portos dos Mortos (Beyond the Grave)-please help me find this movie!

I read about this here and have not been able to find anything about getting a copy of this DVD for  myself.

Couch Potato (Laziest post ever!)

This weekend I watched:

Death and Dying

My wife asked me to help edit her video for the "Death and Dying" class she is going to teach this summer.  She filmed a ten minute introduction in a local cemetery, sitting among the markers while going over the course objectives.

A Confession-You don't have to say you love me

I am going to share something that is really personal with my (subscribed) readers, I don't want this to appear on my facebook page because I have to associate with those people in real life and I don't want them to know.

All my life, at least since I discovered EA Poe (in second grade!), I have wanted to be a writer;  the kind of writer whose words on paper will make the reader's blood run cold in terror.  I started a new blog for that kind of content.  There will be no witty, carefully structured commentary on popular culture or delightful anecdotes about my personal growth as I strive towards acceptance of my new life as a professional invalid.

I am calling that blog Samples, although I don't know why.  I hope that some of you will take a peek at it, although there isn't much there right now.  Here and here are a couple of things I would love to share, they have plenty of warts and I am betting your thoughts would be very constructive.

Until then, this has been stuck in my head since last Thursday's 30 Rock.

I am so excited!

and I just can't hide it!

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Thought you might like to know...

I never blogged about the final Harry Potter movies because, well, I couldn't find anything new to say about them.

On the March 3 episode of the National Public Radio show Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me, host Peter Sagal and the panelists discuss the latest news from the wizarding world

Listen to the complete show here

Tuesday Afternoon

 At Miami I had to read selections from Robert  Ardrey's African Genesis (1961, I think) which put out the ideas that mankind was born on the African Savannah and  aggression (and the invention of weapons) fueled the survival of the species.  This was leading up a discussions about how visionary filmmaker Stanley Kubrick and futurist Arthur C. Clarke then extrapolated those ideas to create the world's most expensive pornographic film, 2001, a Space Odyssey (money shot here)

I never know what my friend Todd will send me, but it is always worthwhile.  Today was a video clip that, even though it pre-dates Ardrey's book by a few years, takes that same evolutionary trip backwards, from space to the African plain and a pre-technological society (not killer apes!) to welcome the Star Child, all in under 8 minutes.

The Woman in Black, (James Watkins, 2012)

I just finished watching Hammer Films' The Woman in Black with Harry Potter Daniel Radcliff, Ciaran Hinds and some of the most frightening CGI I have ever seen.

This film was pants-wettingly-scary, plenty of jump out of-your-skin moments.

True story:  In 1984, my girlfriend and I went to see  a Friday the 13th movie on a rainy, Easter Sunday before her  parents took us back to Miami University.  I remember thinking it was odd that there were so many small children in the same theater.

The movie was laughably bad, which is not always a bad thing with me.  As I was explaining to my girlfriend that Jason was surely about to grab his next victim from under the stairs I paused long enough to jump out of my seat and somehow leap completely over her, landing on her lap and screaming the rest of my snarky comments about how predictable a movie it was into her ear, all because Jason Voorhees grabbed his next victim from under the stairs.

Better than drugs.

Funny Stuff

To make something funny, add:

an obese person

bigots (although it seems the only PC stereotypes left are Canadians and left-handed people.  This is not a bad thing)

S. William Hinzman (1936 - 2012)

Bill Hinzman, No. 1 Zombie from the cemetery in the original Night of the Living Dead, the  ghoul that was "Coming to get you, Barbara." is dead.  John T. at his superlative blog, Shocks to the System has written a very loving tribute to the man, his character and career.

I have written about my life long nightmares of gaunt, hollow eyed men pursuing me, but I never realized until tonight that Bill Hinzman was the zombie that haunted me.

I doubt I will sleep better tonight knowing he is dead.  In fact, I hope comes to chase me one more time.

Monday Morning Halftime Quarterbacking

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Our visit with Mercedes

The Sanducky Mall and my dreams of monsters

I returned to the center of the universe last week-The Sandusky Mall.  Large malls were a novel phenomena in the heartland of the 1970s. These local edifices were both brothels, where the sins of lust and conspicuous consumption were fanned to fever pitch, and cathedrals that provided expiation and atonement.  This was an irresistible, sensual experience a dissatisfied, alienated teenager.  I devoted countless hours to searching behind the mall's garish facades, prowling its promenades, perusing the emporiums and boutique,s and spending my quarters in  the meretricious arcade, hoping to find that one thing that would bring gratification.

Hardcore, Paul Schrader (1979)

Paul Schrader's Hardcore, 1979, is a dark, postlapsarian fable showing America's  rapid and irresistible decline into debauchery and decadence. As the family of staunchly religious busnessman Jake VanDorn unravels, the forces of darkness  move in to entice his teen-age daughter into their subterranean culture.

Happy New Year-ish

WIWLN is going on hiatus.  Writing this blog i one of m y favorite things to do, but I have a couple of time crunches that are interfering with my watching movies and writing times.  It is sad that this is happening now because there are lots of cool things that I want to see and write, especially  now that so many of my favorite blogs are putting up their end of the year lists.

We are stuck between housing right now; we have one house that we can't move into and one house that we have to vacate very soon. This little apartment is already crammed full of moving boxes, but no definite date when the bank will let us move into the new place.  The present delay has to do with Bank of America LOSING some of the paperwork.   I won't bore you with the details, most of which I don't understand myself.

And also, my grand daughter is visiting us now.  She is a riot, but exhausting too.  Here is a video of the little angel, asleep in the car on the way home from the beach we went to on New Years Day.

Anyway, I hope I can get back to the blog soon.