Category Archives: Reviews
More music to make you feel epic – X-Men: The Movie
That’s right…I have more music suggestions that will make you feel as though your normal commute is much more exciting than it actually is!
A movie score that I feel gets overlooked too often is the score to the first X-Men movie. I’ve heard several people scoff at Michael Kamen’s compositions for this film (he’s probably best known for the scores to films such as “Robin Hood: Prince of Thievesâ€, “Highlanderâ€, “Mr. Holland’s Opus†and also for the orchestral side to the Metallica S&M concert) but even if you are one of those people, I urge you to listen to the score once again, this time without the distraction of the movie.
The first track on the album, “Death Camp†sets the tone for the rest of the music, and you can feel the build and tension in the music leading up to the sudden quiet. The music from the opening credits, however, is found later on the album in the track called “Cerebroâ€. I’m personally a huge fan of that particular track with its sweeping strings that make me want to fly down the freeway in a manner reminiscent of the film’s opening credit sequence.
Other tracks such as “Ambush†and “Museum Fight†help to provide that feeling of action and excitement without feeling as cliché as other movie scores. These tracks maintain a slightly different feel that only heightens the experience of watching a superhero movie. Not to mention, cleaning house and listening to these track make you feel like you’ll actually win the battle against your dust bunnies.
There is one track on the album that is easily my favorite and I can listen to on repeat endlessly. “Logan and Rogue†is the final track on the score and from the moment I first heard the melody in the theater (the scene where Logan finally gets to Rogue and lifts up her limp form) I was captivated. Easily the most memorable piece of music from the movie, it’s replayed in its entirety during the end credits of the film. Every time I hear this piece I feel like I want to cry and soar at the same time. Don’t ask me how it manages to produce that feeling, but listen to it with your eyes closed and see what you think. Even those who turn up their noses and call Kamen’s score to X-Men campy and terrible often have nothing but good things to say about this particular track.
From the melodic and sad tones of the strings in the track “Logan and Rogue” to the forceful use of the same instruments in ” Ambush”, Michael Kamen shows off his ability to create an epic movie score without crossing the line into “too cheesy”. HIs score makes you feel as though it could still be applied to your own life’s soundtrack. Which is what makes it so wonderful in my opinion.
For this Elf, out of all 4 X-Men films, the score to the first is easily the most memorable. My second favorite is the score to the third movie but Kamen’s work on the music for the first film is brilliant. When the movie came out in theaters I happened to be working at one during the film’s run and would often sneak into the theater at the end of the movie just to close my eyes and listen to the music from the “Logan and Rogue†moment through the end of the credits.
Even if you think that Kamen’s work is cheesy or not epic enough for X-Men, give it a listen without the film. Let me know what you think!
Kinect Video Review
Here is the video review that I promised on Twitter. More coming soon.
“We either live happily ever after or we get killed by horrible curses.” – A quick glimpse of “The 10th Kingdom”
Mushrooms, swamp water, Wolf, and “A Whiter Shade of Pale†are some of the things that come to mind first whenever someone mentions “The 10th Kingdomâ€.
I’m not sure how I missed it when this miniseries first aired on television but I only ran into a couple of years ago on the recommendation of a friend. I put it on my Netflix queue, all three discs, and when the first one arrived I sat down expecting something rather cheesy. And for the first hour I have to admit that I found the plot, the acting and everything kinda corny. It wasn’t until after that first hour (out of nine) that I realized I was hooked on the story. I devoured the rest of the series and by the end I was wishing there was more to it!
The basic premise is that of two worlds: one is our own, normal as ever with Virginia who works as a waitress near central park and lives with her father (her mother left them when she was young) who is the “handyman†for their apartment building. She’s the type that feels like nothing exciting will happen in their lives and have resigned themselves to that.
Then we have the world of the Nine Kingdoms. These are divided up and based on what we call fairy tales but were about real people in that world. The focus is on Prince Wendell, who is soon to take the throne as king of the Fourth Kingdom, he is the grandson of Snow White and has to make a stop to overhear his evil stepmother’s parole request when things go terribly wrong.
From the beginning the two world collide and characters hop from one to the other and back again, dragging Virginia and her father, Tony, with them into danger and adventure while all they want is to find a way home. With characters such as the Troll King, his three children and the rather dashing and rakish Wolf, it’s hard to resist smiling and laughing as the action continues to draw you in.
At least, it drew me in. There were actually parts in the series where I found myself heartbroken and other moments where I was in tears. Toward the end I was biting my nails, unsure of what would actually happen. Believe me, I was surprised that a series that had started out so cheesy could suck me in so completely. Let’s top that off by saying that any time I hear “A Whiter Shade of Pale†I suddenly think of mushrooms. Singing mushrooms.
Watch it and you’ll see why.
Yes, it seems girly and cheesy and made for kids but trust me, there are many bits in it that are probably only understood by adults. And while I agree that it was hard for me to sit through the first bit, after that I didn’t want to press the stop button. Now when I rewatch it the beginning seems sweet and cute, not nearly as cheesy as I thought on that first watching.
If you need more to convince you, how about an amazing cast? Ed O’Neill as the Troll King (he’s hilarious!), Rutger Hauer as the Huntsman, Warwick Davis as Acorn the Dwarf, Dianne Wiest as the Evil Stepmother/Evil Queen, Scott Cohen as Wolf (if you’re female you’ll probably love him in this), and even John Larroquette as Tony, Virginia’s father. There are so many more amazing actors in it but those alone should be enough to convince you to put this on your Netflix queue and give it a try.
Let me know what you think if you watch it after reading this post. And if you’ve already seen it, did you like it at all? What were you favorite or least favorite parts? (I loved anything with Wolf in it. I just adore him!!)
“You mustn’t be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling.” – Inception [spoiler alert!]
I finally had the chance to watch “Inception†last week at the theater…long after nearly everyone else I knew had seen it. Luckily now they can all talk about it around me finally. Thanks to a lack of television I’d managed to avoid any hints at what the movie was about so I went into it only knowing the actors involved. If you’ve yet to see it, I’d recommend skipping this particular post of mine. I’d hate to spoil the movie for you. I’m not sure if I’d have enjoyed it as much knowing any of the plot ahead of time.
And now…on to my thoughts on the film.
Let’s start with the actors themselves. I’m not the biggest Leonardo DiCaprio fan but I have to admit that I was rather impressed with him in this movie. His character, Cobb, was an excellent fit for his acting and I’m in the process of revising my opinion of him as an actor. Cillian Murphy was the big draw for me as I’ve been a fan of his for years. He was wonderful in this film as the unknowing victim of the inception attempt.
Two other actors that I’m growing to love more and more are Tom Hardy and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. They play a “forger†and “point-man†respectively and the interactions between the two make me understand exactly why there’s so much slash fanfiction involving the two of them. Their characters are wonderfully fleshed out even to the point where the levels that are their own dream match their personalities so well.
The actor that was a surprise to me was Ken Watanabe. I had no idea he was in the movie and as such I had no idea that he would not only be the instigator of the inception job but was a part of the team as well.
From the start of the movie I was hooked into the action, always wondering what would happen next and even agreeing with certain things, such as how time moves much differently in our dreams. One part that still makes me go “wow†is the moment of the first “kick†with the van going over the side of the bridge. From that moment the characters know what has happened and on each level they realize how long they have until the next kicks have to happen. All of the kicks need to happen at the same time in order for them to wake up from each level.
Another scene that is visually amazing is the part where the van is thrown into a roll down an embankment. In the next dream level, Arthur’s dream, the hotel corridor is suddenly thrown into a spin while he is fighting one of the projections in the dream. They literally fight as the corridor spins and it looks like something that Spiderman only wishes he could do. Reading about how that scene was done I have some serious respect for Joseph Gordon-Levitt for actually being in that physically spinning set.
The climax of the movie hits all at once and I found myself holding my breath, wondering if everyone would make it out in time, if Fischer would see the false dream-version of his father and accept the idea that was being planted, if Cobb and Ariadne would make it out of limbo or not and so on. I admit to being somewhat teary during the suspense when Fischer pulled the pinwheel out of the safe. Even though I knew it was false, the emotion on Fischer’s face was heartwrenching.
And the end of the movie…how can I let that pass by? The happiness of seeing Cobb make his way through customs. The amusement at seeing Fischer’s confused face when Cobb walks past him. And then the tense moment when he sets the top to spinning, wanting to know if he’s still dreaming or not. Cobb walks away from it before he knows, unable to resist his children’s calls for their father. We see the top spin, spin, spin, almost wobble and then it cuts to black. In the theater when I saw it nearly everyone in the audience made a loud noise of protest. Apparently that’s the usual reaction.
With the completely ambiguous ending, the tense climax, the twisting dream sequences and so on the movie “Inception†can make you forget how long it really is…at least until you try to stand and walk after it’s over. I’ve only seen it once but I already want to see it again and I plan to pre-order the dvd as soon as I can. The more I sit and think about it, the more I realize I enjoy it.
I’m curious to know what you all thought about it. What was your take on the ending? Is he still in limbo? Is it real? Does it matter? Let me know!
Are you ready for Freddy? – Thoughts on the remake of Nightmare on Elm Street
One..two..Freddy’s coming for you…
Three…four…better lock your door…
Ah, “A Nightmare on Elm Streetâ€. A classic horror film made in 1984. It gave us one of our most memorable and beloved horror icons, Freddy Kreuger and caused us to laugh and cry in the sequels that were made.
I’ve been a huge Freddy fan since the first time a friend showed the original movie back in 2000. True, I got into the fandom late but I made up for it with obsession. I devoured the rest of the series that was out (which meant 2-New Nightmare) and quickly decided on my favorites (1 and 3) and the one I hated the most (2). Fanfiction writing immediately followed and I knew that I was now a fangirl of Freddy for life. Even “Freddy Vs. Jason†was brought in as one of my top three favorites.
Then I got wind of a remake of the first Nightmare on Elm Street movie.
Needless to say I wasn’t thrilled. I saw no reason to remake a classic that was already wonderful. Still, as Hollywood never listens to my opinions, they went ahead with the movie.
As it was released I caught wind of a few plot points that immediately caused me to hate the film with a passion though I had never seen it. I finally broke down and put it on my netflix, because it’s hard to truly bash a movie until you’ve at least watched it.
Less than a week ago I sat down and watched it, biting my tongue to keep from uttering any scathing remarks (that didn’t work as well as I had hoped). After it was over I realized that I had several things to say about it (Beware of spoilers!!):
First, Jackie Earl Haley does a really good Freddy. He’s no Robert Englund and as such I can’t ever think of him as Freddy, but he has the right build and movements for it. I wasn’t thrilled with his makeup though. It looked too….Voldemort-ish. I would have been happier with a look that was more of the 1984 version.
Second, they added back in the discarded plot idea of Fred Krueger being a child molester. This is something I hated. You see, I loved the original storyline where he was a child-killer instead and so this did not sit well with me at all. Combined with this is the flashback to Freddy’s memory of being chased and then burned alive. I cannot, for the life of me, ever see Fred Krueger cowering and swearing that he didn’t do what they were accusing him of. Instead I still picture him as the smarmy bastard who was proud of it and didn’t care if the townspeople knew.
Third, they used several of Freddy’s more amusing quips from the various movies in the series and combined them into this one remake. While that was a nice homage to the previous movies I think they should have stuck with Freddy being more visually morbid and frightening. In the 1984 version he didn’t speak much at all but instead displayed a sick sense of humor with stretching arms, cutting off his own fingers and even waggling his tongue. That version was much more frightening.
Related to that point is that there was a severe lack of tongue waggling and pelvic thrusting in this movie. And definitely not enough of the creepy “knives on metal†scraping noise that is such a part of the series.
There were a few good things about the movie, though. I liked the opening credit sequence. Done with cuts of children, chalk lettering and sidewalk drawings, it was extremely creepy and set the nightmareish tone for the rest of the movie. Also, kudos to the composer for remembering to bring in the original theme from the Nightmare movies in the right places. Without that they would have made the same mistake that Terminator Salvation made and left out one of the most important things that makes the movies identifiable.
And there is that first moment when we see Freddy’s glove. There’s something about the sight of just the right leg and then the glove opening with that familiar *snik* sound followed by each one of the fingers moving and clicking in turn that makes you shiver. That was very Freddy-like.
And let’s not forget…at least this one wasn’t done by Rob Zombie. Whew!!Â
Overall….I didn’t hate it as much as I thought I would but I still don’t like it at all. I felt there were too many changes made to the backstory and plot of the movie and thanks to that it lost it’s “Nightmare†feel. I’d still suggest watching it, however, even if you are ambivalent as I was.
Did you really enjoy the remake? Really hate it? Care to counter with your own arguments? Drop me a line!
Greatest Games of 2010 that you probably haven’t played
2010 has been one of the best years for gaming ever. In terms of the sheer number of AAA games that have been released so far, I feel like we’ve already had a holiday season and we haven’t even hit November. Therefore you shouldn’t be blamed for missing a few titles along the way that you want to pick up at a later date. Sure some of the  supposedly AAA games that have come out this year have fallen flat in the eyes of many people, however some of the lesser known games, to some people, have shined when  nobody thought they would. In the right group of people these games were the AAA games that were bigger than Final Fantasy, Halo: Reach and God of War.
Anyway, I feel as though i may have rambled. Here are the greatest games of 2010Â that you probably haven’t played.
Alan Wake has had a troubled time. It was constantly delayed to the point where, until it was on store shelves I didn’t think it was really being released. Sort of like Gran Turismo 5. Then Microsoft sends it out to die and die it has. It was released within a week of Red Dead Redemption. Any enthusiastic gamer knows that you don’t release your game anywhere near a Rockstar game. No matter how good it is it will almost always be over looked for the aforementioned Rockstar game.
Naturally, I wasn’t paying attention to Alan Wake along with most of the gaming world I only had eyes for Red Dead Redemption. Even though I didn’t have any interest in playing the game. After roughly two weeks of the games being on store shelves Red Dead Redemption was like gold dust and I picked Alan Wake out of the bargain bin. 50% off less than a month after release. This is where I fell in love.
The game is magnificent. I do not like any type of horror video game, I couldn’t even finish Bioshock, I don’t think I made it half way. Yet this game is fabulous. It has the perfect mix of survival horror and all out video game action. Even if you can’t find it in a bargain bin for 50% off then at the very least rent the game. I completed it in near enough one sitting. Albeit I was sat for quite a while yet I still feel that the purchase of the game was completely warranted even if it was just for one sitting. I know people who have put 50+ hours into the game *cough* Deschain *cough*. It is truly worth, at the very least, renting.
If you do decide to rent the game or buy it then let me know. I have a spare code for the first add on pack. If you want it then just send me a message on twitter. @360cookie.
Pokemon, I love Pokemon. I collected the cards when I was younger, I have been playing the games since I was 9 years old and I got the original Pokemon silver with my Christmas money. I have grown up with the games more than any other. I even bought the original DS on launch day so I could play the next Pokemon. Although I sold it very disappointed because there wasn’t a true Pokemon game released in the three years that I owned it. Then came Soul Silver early this year. I had bypassed Diamond and Pearl but there wasn’t anyway that I could miss the remakes of the games I loved so much. So I bought a DSi in order to play Soul Silver and I have loved every minute I have put into that game. I am still playing the game to this day and bought the strategy guide just two weeks ago, so I could catch all the Pokemon. It is my game of the year for this year so far and the reason I am writing about it right now is in order to try and convince people to at least try it. I know too many people that think the game is just for kids and so despite the fact that the games together are some of the best selling games this year it seems like nobody has played them.
I will put it quite simply. The Pokemon games are the best RPG games that I have ever played. They are true RPGs unlike the pseudo RPGs like Mass Effect 2 that are released today. If you like RPGs then I implore you to try these games. They can be as casual or hardcore as you like. If you just want to beat some trainers then you can and you will have fun doing so however if you want to get in depth and EV train your Pokemon, to make them the strongest they can be, you can.
The Pokemon games have been seen as children’s games for too long. Play them and you will see that they are just as good as any RPG on the Xbox 360, PS3 or PC.
Ahh Harry Potter, how I love this franchise. I think I should provide a little disclosure before I start on Lego Harry Potter just in case I come across as a fanboy. I adore the Harry Potter series. I have bought all the books twice, lined up at midnight for them, read each book a minimum of ten times, bought all the movies at least twice on three different formats and played all the games. As you may be able to guess describing me as excited for Lego Harry Potter Years 1-4 would be an understatement. I have enjoyed almost all of the Lego games to date and the Harry Potter franchise is a natural fit with what the Lego games do. The typical humour of the Lego games fits perfectly in the world of Harry Potter. Even as the films (which the game seems to be slightly more based upon) get darker the jokes are just as good. There is a particularly good joke at the end of Goblet of Fire which if you play the game you should be on the lookout for.
The game itself is, in my opinion, the best Lego game to date. This game feels like a culmination of everything the Lego games have done right over the last five or six years. While playing in two player split screen your character won’t die if the person your playing with runs off. Instead there is an intuitive split screen system that splits the screen as and when it is needed. The game also feels more fleshed out than previous Lego games. Each story feels like it’s own game rather than it’s own section. I am confident that each year could have been released as a standalone game albeit not at full retail price.
If you have played any of the Lego games and even remotely enjoyed them you should try this game. If you like the Harry Potter series you should try this game. If you like both then you are crazy if you haven’t already completed the game multiple times. Since I don’t know anybody who really despises either franchise you NEED to play Lego Harry Potter.
If you have any other suggestions for games that are great but have been overlooked this year then please let me know in the comments or on twitter @360cookie.
“Eat lead you man-stealing slut!” – My sick love for “Meet the Feebles”
Sometimes you run across a movie that is so disgusting, so filthy, so utterly depraved that you end up actually liking it and recommending it to friends.
“Meet the Feebles†is my love/vomit movie.
If you’ve never seen it, I suggest that you do. First, it’s one of Peter Jackson’s early films and after you watch it you’ll suddenly realize where certain shots and bits in LOTR came from. Second, it’s got some catchy songs in it. One of the songs right near the end is probably one of my absolute favorites (though the title of it probably makes you wonder) and I tend to catch myself singing it in inappropriate places. Third, it’s got muppets! Okay, well…puppets but I call them muppets even so.
Those were the good reasons to watch it. Now for the bad.
Picture this: porn being filmed in a basement by a rat with a cow as the leading lady, a rabbit who loves orgies, a Siamese cat going down on a walrus, a panty-sniffing walrus, a fox obsessed with sodomy, and drugs everywhere.
I often sum it up as: X-rated muppets on acid.
There are so many things that are wrong with this movie that you’ll be torn between laughing, groaning and trying not to upchuck. Yet, for all of that….this movie is hilarious. When I first saw it I thought I’d have to bleach my brain after it ended. Instead, the movie grew on me like a disgusting fungus and of course I felt the need to spread it to other people. I managed to get an old vhs copy of the movie that was already on its last legs when it came into my possession. I watched it and showed it to more folks until the poor tape’s sound and video quality were shot.
There was one moment when I happened to catch it on dvd. It was at Dragon*Con six years ago. At the time I didn’t have a single cent to my name and had to walk past it rather sadly. About a month ago I was shopping for a birthday present for a friend in a used cd/dvd store and nearly shrieked when I saw it sitting on the shelf. I bought it without a second thought and immediately tweeted about finding it.
One of these days I need to make the girls at Stitch n Bitch watch it. Perhaps after there’s been alcohol.
Have you seen this crazy movie? I know most people either love it or hate it. I’m curious to know what you think of it. If you haven’t seen it I do believe that Netflix has it for rent. Check it out and drop me a line!
“FABRICATI DIEM, PVNC” – The Ankh-Morpork City Watch
Most people are at least passingly familiar with Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels. Me, I’ve been a huge fan since reading my first one back in 1998 (for the record, it was “Maskeradeâ€). I admit that there are some novels and characters that I like more than others but overall the series is wonderful. Each book can be picked up and read without reading any of the previous ones. True, you will miss out on certain things but most of them can be read by themselves. There is one group of characters that I love that I often recommend reading their books in order. That’s the Ankh-Morpork Night Watch (and later City Watch).
I think the first Watch book I read might have been “Men at Armsâ€. It happens to be the second book in the series that focuses mainly on the Watch. I followed that one with “Feet of Clay†(luckily that’s actually next in the series) and then I got curious and went back to read the first book, “Guards, Guards!â€. Only three books under my belt that dealt with the Watch and I already wanted more. (plus, who doesn’t love that motto listed in the title? “Fabricati Diem, Pvnc.â€? In the Discworld series they mess with Latin and essentially misread it in humorous ways…this one cracked me up with how you can read it as “Make my day, punk.â€) The Watch starts out in “Guards, Guards!†with only 3 members who are joined by a new recruit. These members are Sgt. Colon, Corporal Nobbs and Captain Vimes and the new recruit is Constable Carrot.
Sam Vimes
Samuel Vimes is easily my favorite of the Watchmen (followed closely by a later addition) and we meet him as a man who is at the same time a realist and an idealist, full of sarcasm, toughness and whiskey. He’s the type of character who knows that he has a dark side (he calls it “The Beastâ€) that is worse than most of the criminals that he’s seen and yet he constantly keeps it under control. It’s interesting to watch the struggle that he goes through in the series, dealing with a darker side of himself that he is fully aware of unlike other characters (and folks in real life) who prefer to pretend that they don’t have a dark side at all.
After the first book the Watch begins to grow in numbers and my second favorite character, Constable Angua is introduced. I’ll let you find out more about her but she’s definitely one of the characters that I was happy to read more about in later books. Carrot is also a close tie for my second favorite. He almost shines with honesty and yet there is a subtle side to some of his actions that you almost miss sometimes.
After those three the next Watch book I read was “Jingoâ€. This one cemented my love of the members of the Watch and I actually had to re-read part of the ending several times simply because of the impact that it had on me. If you’ve read it, you probably know exactly what I’m talking about.
“The Fifth Elephant†was another Watch-centered book that also gave us a better look into Angua’s life and background. If you ever needed proof that Vimes is a total badass, this book gave it to you. My favorite Watch novel followed this one and is called “Night Watchâ€. It involves time travel, consequences of changing things in the past, seeing things from a different perspective and the Glorious 25th of May. If you’ve ever seen folks wearing lilac or talking about that day, using that specific name, this is the book that it came from. While it’s my favorite Watch book, when I recommend Discworld novels to friends, I tell them to read the other Watch novels before reading this one. Trust me, you’ll appreciate this one so much more if you have that background. I can read “Night Watch†over and over again and never get tired of it.
The next Watch novel is called “Thud!†and this one was also great at giving us a better look at Vimes, what is at the core of the man and what he truly believes in when you strip away everything else. A companion book (almost a little kid’s picture book) was made after this novel. It’s called “Where’s My Cow†and might be the most adorable thing I’ve read in some time.
Many of the other Discworld books involve the Watch members to varying degrees. Even Maskerade introduced me to Colon and Nobby before I was familiar with the Night Watch at all. Terry Pratchett has commented that it’s almost impossible to set any story that might involve crime in Ankh-Morpork without it quickly becoming a Watch novel. Not that I’m complaining. I’m eagerly waiting for the next one that he comes up with.
One day I fully intend to go to Dragon*Con as Angua, with full Watch armor, and see who guesses my character correctly. Anyone want to go with me as other Watchmen?
So, do you have favorite Watch characters? Completely hate the Watch? Drop me a line!
“Men should be like Kleenex: soft, strong, and disposable.” – Time to break out “Clue”
It’s getting closer to Halloween and that means it’s time to break out the horror flicks and murder mysteries. Now I tend to watch several of those types of films on a regular basis (I’m a huge Freddy Krueger fan) but is one that I try to watch around Halloween even if I’ve just watched it the week before. Yes, it’s that good.
Like many kids I grew up loving the board game, Clue. This was back when there was only one version of the game and not all the movie and television versions they have now. The pieces were basic and it was all about getting enough information to be the first one to try to guess “Who Done It?†I dragged that game everywhere and played it often. When the movie adaptation of the game came out on video I remember my mom watching it first and then deciding that it was light-hearted enough for me to watch as well.
The movie, “Clue†has many well known actors and actresses in it (it’s the first movie I saw and took note of Tim Curry, Madeline Kahn and Christopher Lloyd) and while it is a murder mystery, the setting is one that keeps you interested and often laughing. The movie itself has three different endings. I never saw it in the theater so I never had the fun/frustration of only seeing one ending that might be different if I saw it at another movie theater. The only way I knew the movie was to see all three endings in sequence and each one was better than the last.
Every character that you knew from the game is given a quick back story (that you learn more of through the movie) and is fleshed out enough that you find yourself loving all of them. The setting of a dinner party with guests (all given pseudonyms from the board game) who have one thing in common (being blackmailed) is a perfect setup for the rest of the film. When playing the game I never wondered why we were all searching a mansion for clues to a killer but the movie’s plot is the perfect setting.
Continuing to watch the movie from then until now I’ve caught bits of humor that went completely over my head as a kid. I do still want a mansion of my own where I can have secret passages like the movie. That hasn’t changed in 25 years. I also want most of the costumes that the characters wore in the movie, especially Miss Scarlet’s dress. I can’t hear “Life Could be a Dream†and “Shake, Rattle & Roll†without suddenly having the urge to run home and pop that movie in the dvd player.
Who doesn’t love Tim Curry as Wadsworth, the butler and his recap of the evening, running through the mansion with the guests frantically trying to keep up? How about Professor Plum’s attempts at flirting with the women at the dinner part? Or Mr. Green’s constant clumsiness and general awkwardness?
If you’ve never seen “Clue†(yes, I’ve run across many folks who haven’t), go and rent it or put it on your Netflix queue. Even if you’ve never played the game before the movie is hilarious.
And if you have seen it before, watch it again, just for me. I’ll be watching it sometime this week, probably while knitting Jayne hats, and I’ll probably marvel again at how a movie that I’ve watched since I was a kid only gets better with every viewing.
“We’re like the world’s gayest ninjas.” – Getting hooked on “Being Human”
 Every week I meet up with a group of friends for a Stitch n Bitch and we knit, sew and otherwise craft while watching various movies and tv shows. About a month ago Amanda introduced us to a BBC show called “Being Humanâ€. The basic plot of the show is about a vampire, a werewolf and a ghost who all live together in the same house and try to find a way to “be human†and fit in with normal people.
I was hooked from the first episode watching a rather hilarious moment involving George, the werewolf, having problems trying to find a spot in the woods to “Changeâ€. After laughing hysterically at that bit I found that I wanted to see the rest of the series. Within a week I had it at the top of my Netflix queue and was happily watching Series One. Like many BBC series, each season is short (this one was only 6 episodes!) but I was captivated by every moment.
Let’s just say I’d much rather watch 6 amazing episodes of a series and feel like I was part of the story than watch the third season of True Blood drag on like it did.
The lore of the supernatural is a little different in this series than often portrayed in other media. For example, Mitchell, the vampire, can go out in the sunlight though he prefers to wear sunglasses to shield his eyes. Vampires also have a very low body temperature that they are all too aware of. You often see Mitchell wearing coats and fingerless gloves to keep warm. Religious symbols and speech do affect them as well as the infamous stake through the heart.
The way that Mitchell describes the change from human to werewolf is captivating. I’d always thought that the change must be painful. After all, your bones are changing shape along with your organs. All of that combined never seemed to be a happy process to me. In the series it’s described as a combination of a heart attack, massive organ failure, tearing and reforming. George’s screams of pain during the change only accent that every time it happens on screen. In the series, the virus (for lack of a better term) can be spread through scratches from a werewolf.
Ghost are very similar to regular lore. They usually appear in the clothes that they died in and are here for a purpose, either to complete something that was unfinished in their lives or to experience something they hadn’t before dying. They can be seen by other supernatural creatures but not by most regular humans. Annie “haunts†the house that she and her fiancé, Owen, rented before her death and she is extremely happy when both George and Mitchell move in and can see her.
I just finished watching Series One last night and I’m going to have to rewatch the last episode to catch a few things that I missed. I already have Series Two ready on my queue (all three discs in a row!) and I’m looking forward to seeing what happens with Mitchell, George and Annie.
On a somewhat more girly note, Russell Tovey who plays George is so adorable that I find myself alternately face palming and wanting to hug him. Aidan Turner plays Mitchell and I have to admit, though my most recent vampire crush was tall, pale, blond and Swedish I can easily add the darker and rougher Mitchell to my list of “drool worthy†vampires.
The series has an extremely good mix of humor, drama, action and character development that keeps your attention no matter which character is on screen. While British humor may not be to everyone’s taste I think that this series might be worth trying even if you aren’t normally a fan. Let me know what you think of it after watching an episode or two!
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