Saturday, March 10, 2012

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, March 6, 2012

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.





Saturday, February 25, 2012

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.




Wednesday, February 15, 2012

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)

Monday, February 6, 2012

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.