Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Na - No - Wri - Mo

Because I am ever so slightly a person of the, um, obsessive variety --OK, I'm off my rocker --I like to have 20 projects going at once. And every November, National Novel Writing Month tempts me with its demanding 'can you deal with me?' love. I've only signed up once, about 3 years ago, and I didn't finish the novel but I found the experience oddly rewarding.

As for my 20 simultaneous projects habit. On the bright side: It keeps me stretching creatively. On the dark side: It can function as a creative form of self sabotage.

Anyway, if you've ever wanted to write a novel, I dare you to sign up. It's a really brilliant contest. Write 50,000 words in one month and do not look at what you're writing. No second guessing. No editing. No nothing other than the writing itself. The process cuts through all the ways writers force themselves not to write and just makes them brain vomit. So what if only 5,000 words of it are beautiful when you're done. When's the last time you wrote 5,000 beautiful words o' fiction?

Who's with me? (and before you ask none of the writing will be appearing on this blog. I'm crazy but I'm not that crazy)

Na - No - Wri - Mo

Because I am ever so slightly a person of the, um, obsessive variety --OK, I'm off my rocker --I like to have 20 projects going at once. And every November, National Novel Writing Month tempts me with its demanding 'can you deal with me?' love. I've only signed up once, about 3 years ago, and I didn't finish the novel but I found the experience oddly rewarding.

As for my 20 simultaneous projects habit. On the bright side: It keeps me stretching creatively. On the dark side: It can function as a creative form of self sabotage.

Anyway, if you've ever wanted to write a novel, I dare you to sign up. It's a really brilliant contest. Write 50,000 words in one month and do not look at what you're writing. No second guessing. No editing. No nothing other than the writing itself. The process cuts through all the ways writers force themselves not to write and just makes them brain vomit. So what if only 5,000 words of it are beautiful when you're done. When's the last time you wrote 5,000 beautiful words o' fiction?

Who's with me? (and before you ask none of the writing will be appearing on this blog. I'm crazy but I'm not that crazy)

Happy Halloween. May I Sleep Now?

I'm exhausted. But before I climb into my coffin filled with soil from my beloved homeland (Detroit) I thought I'd leave you with a few interesting observations about the Vampire Blog-a-Thon, which I would count as a delicious pulsating success. For those who found the list of 5o+ blogs daunting (I'm nearly finished reading them but I've been ignoring all my other responsibilities --yikes) here is an easier way to attack them all: Subject matter!

1970s Stinky Lulu (Blacula) 1980s Eddie on Film (Fright Night) * novaslim (Vamp) * My New Plaid Pants (Near Dark) 1990s Low Resolution (From Dusk Till Dawn) * No More Marriages (Innocent Blood) * * zoom-in (The Addiction) *

Bram Stokers Dracula (Francis Ford Coppola)
Nicks Flick Picks * Catherine Cantieri * Cutting Room *

Celebs as Vampires
Gallery of the Absurd (Kirsten Dunst) * Pen15 Club (Hilary Duff) * All About My Movies (Angelina Jolie ) * Glitterati (Charles Shaughnessy) *

Dracula Titles (Various)
As Little As Possible (Dracula: Dead and Loving It) * Forward to Yesterday (Dracula: Pages from a Virgins Diary) * When I Look Deep... (Drácula & Dracula) Bright Lights After Dark (Dracula, Browning) * goatdog (the dwindling fortunes of Dracula) * 100 Films (Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein)

Foreign Films
Critic After Dark (two from The Philippines) * European Films (Frostbite, Sweden) *

Hammer Horror
Cinema Fromage (Dracula AD) * popbytes (Hammer series) * Certifiably Creative (Countess Dracula) * Peter Nellhaus (Brides of Dracula )

Martin (George Romero)
Silly Hats Only * Richard Gibson * Tuwa's Shanty

Miscellaneous Blood Sucking
Flickhead (favorites) * Stale Popcorn (sexiest) * Burbanked (bloodsucking screenwriters) * Pfangirl (female vampires) * Way of Words (depictions of women) * Music is My Boyfriend (vampire music) * The Horror Blog (an anti-vampire prejudice) * Bitter Cinema (movie trailers) * Agence Eureka (gallery) * Tim Lucas (favorites) * The Boob Tubers (Spike or Angel?) * Film Vituperatum (Ninjas and Vampires -oh the similarities!) * House of Sternberg (short fiction) *

Nosferatu (Herzog)
Modern Fabulousity * Culture Snob * Cinevistaramascope * Jurgen Fauth's Muckworld *

Queer Vamps
QTA (Vampyros Lesbos) * Being Boring (Interview With the Vampire) * Watts With Words (homoeroticism) *

Vampire-Free Films (through a vampiric lens)
Cinemathematics (Shadow of a Doubt) * Auteur Lust (Persona) * Film of The Year (A Fool There Was) *

Some things I found interesting about the blog-a-thon.
  • Plenty of Herzog but very little Murnau (except for a bunch of fleeting references) in regards to Nosferatu.
  • The most frequently referenced film was Interview with the Vampire but it was rarely the main course and the references weren't usually favorable.
  • Very few recent films were covered. Blade, Underworld, Van Helsing, etc... all but ignored. Is this because they all suck? (not in the good way)
  • I thought I knew my vampire films but no... so many of these I MUST see now after reading these writeups (particularly Martin)
  • Lots of films that have no vampires were namechecked. Titles as diverse as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II, Persona, Eraserhead, Apocalypse Now, The Green Berets, Blue Velvet, Marie Antoinette, Last Tango in Paris, and Witness popped up. But you'll have to read through the blog-a-thon to figure out why...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN


Happy Halloween. May I Sleep Now?

I'm exhausted. But before I climb into my coffin filled with soil from my beloved homeland (Detroit) I thought I'd leave you with a few interesting observations about the Vampire Blog-a-Thon, which I would count as a delicious pulsating success. For those who found the list of 5o+ blogs daunting (I'm nearly finished reading them but I've been ignoring all my other responsibilities --yikes) here is an easier way to attack them all: Subject matter!

1970s Stinky Lulu (Blacula) 1980s Eddie on Film (Fright Night) * novaslim (Vamp) * My New Plaid Pants (Near Dark) 1990s Low Resolution (From Dusk Till Dawn) * No More Marriages (Innocent Blood) * * zoom-in (The Addiction) *

Bram Stokers Dracula (Francis Ford Coppola)
Nicks Flick Picks * Catherine Cantieri * Cutting Room *

Celebs as Vampires
Gallery of the Absurd (Kirsten Dunst) * Pen15 Club (Hilary Duff) * All About My Movies (Angelina Jolie ) * Glitterati (Charles Shaughnessy) *

Dracula Titles (Various)
As Little As Possible (Dracula: Dead and Loving It) * Forward to Yesterday (Dracula: Pages from a Virgins Diary) * When I Look Deep... (Drácula & Dracula) Bright Lights After Dark (Dracula, Browning) * goatdog (the dwindling fortunes of Dracula) * 100 Films (Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein)

Foreign Films
Critic After Dark (two from The Philippines) * European Films (Frostbite, Sweden) *

Hammer Horror
Cinema Fromage (Dracula AD) * popbytes (Hammer series) * Certifiably Creative (Countess Dracula) * Peter Nellhaus (Brides of Dracula )

Martin (George Romero)
Silly Hats Only * Richard Gibson * Tuwa's Shanty

Miscellaneous Blood Sucking
Flickhead (favorites) * Stale Popcorn (sexiest) * Burbanked (bloodsucking screenwriters) * Pfangirl (female vampires) * Way of Words (depictions of women) * Music is My Boyfriend (vampire music) * The Horror Blog (an anti-vampire prejudice) * Bitter Cinema (movie trailers) * Agence Eureka (gallery) * Tim Lucas (favorites) * The Boob Tubers (Spike or Angel?) * Film Vituperatum (Ninjas and Vampires -oh the similarities!) * House of Sternberg (short fiction) *

Nosferatu (Herzog)
Modern Fabulousity * Culture Snob * Cinevistaramascope * Jurgen Fauth's Muckworld *

Queer Vamps
QTA (Vampyros Lesbos) * Being Boring (Interview With the Vampire) * Watts With Words (homoeroticism) *

Vampire-Free Films (through a vampiric lens)
Cinemathematics (Shadow of a Doubt) * Auteur Lust (Persona) * Film of The Year (A Fool There Was) *

Some things I found interesting about the blog-a-thon.
  • Plenty of Herzog but very little Murnau (except for a bunch of fleeting references) in regards to Nosferatu.
  • The most frequently referenced film was Interview with the Vampire but it was rarely the main course and the references weren't usually favorable.
  • Very few recent films were covered. Blade, Underworld, Van Helsing, etc... all but ignored. Is this because they all suck? (not in the good way)
  • I thought I knew my vampire films but no... so many of these I MUST see now after reading these writeups (particularly Martin)
  • Lots of films that have no vampires were namechecked. Titles as diverse as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II, Persona, Eraserhead, Apocalypse Now, The Green Berets, Blue Velvet, Marie Antoinette, Last Tango in Paris, and Witness popped up. But you'll have to read through the blog-a-thon to figure out why...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN


Monday, October 30, 2006

The Vampire Blog-a-Thon

"They Want To Suck Your Blood!" ~ A Vampire Blog-a-Thon
Scroll down for bloody good reads @
53 other vamping blogs
(click here if you to view blog-a-thon by specific film / subject)


I am a big wuss. It's true. The tiniest thing can frighten me. So I have no idea why I love vampires so much. Nor do I have an earthly clue why I had originally intended to write about Kathryn Bigelow's Near Dark (1987)...

For that underseen horror film, Bigelow enlisted the cast of her then-husband James Cameron's Aliens (1986) to play a wandering group of bloodsuckers: Lance Henriksen, Jenette Goldstein and Bill Paxton are the alien soldier/prey gone western vampire/predator. In Near Dark's most famous sequence they enter a roadhouse and massacre the patrons. It's been a good twelve years since I've seen the film but I've never been able to shake Paxton's demonic "finger lickin' gooood" glee from my memory. Just typing this makes me long for vampires on the more romantic side of the undead fence. Since the most romantic thing about Near Dark is a marriage that shares actors, I'm opting out of a repeat viewing for now. A wuss and a softie.

So when it comes to my preferences in fictional monsters, I'll admit that I'm something of a beauty fascist. Buffy the Vampire Slayer is my favorite TV series of all time, but it has one recurrent motif that makes me die a little inside. Each time vampires in the Whedon-verse reveal themselves, their pretty faces morph into hideous mugs --a little too Klingon / Lost Boys for my taste. If you're going to sink your teeth into my neck, please look pretty while doing so. Don't scrunch up your face.

Since the vampire's "blood is life" myth haunts metaphor rich neighborhoods like Sex and Death, it's no surprise that it's so flexible a fictional genre. It changes with the times. Recent years have downplayed the seductiveness and amped up the savagery of the creatures of the night. When you stop to consider vampiric activity in the Blade and Underworld series or in 80s films like The Lost Boys and Near Dark the violence has become so foregrounded that the erudite romantic vampire is now a dinosaur.

Francis Ford Coppola's divisive batty Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) did try to resurrect the old-school vampire, but I'd say the operatic romance within it is the one thing that most assuredly did not work. In the form of delicious Winona Ryder (just ignore her tone-deaf line readings), this Mina Harker could certainly drive a man to drink...her blood. But in the form of Gary Oldman, this Dracula would have a hard time inspiring recriprocal lust. If you want to ressurect the fanged hypnotic ladies man, he shouldn't have a weak chin. A great actor Oldman may well be. A great romantic leading man he simply is not.

But if we can't have the swooning albeit incongruous romanticism of bloodthirsty killers, can we at least have eroticism? Occasionally we can, yes. The legendary sapphic makeout between Susan Sarandon and Catherine Deneuve in The Hunger (yes, please) and Keanu Reeves's druggy romp with three nubial vamp brides (and how) in Bram Stoker's Dracula are two famous examples. But here are two more cinematic moments worth obsessing on. They're both chilling and sexually charged and, therefore, perfectly vampiric.

Nosferatu (1979)
Is any vampire uglier than Nosferatu? In Werner Herzog's expert adaptation of the silent classic, the disgusting, decayed Nosferatu leaning over the prone form of young and beautiful Lucy (Isabelle Adjani) is a forceful study in contrast. Their lone similarity is their mutually pale skin which, come to think of it, is a perfect statement itself: isn't Lucy already doomed, the moment she concocts her self-sacrifice?

Aside from a moody, well-judged cutaway to bats flying in slow motion, Herzog's camera doesn't ever look away -- for minutes on end -- from the blunt sexuality of Nosferatu's bloodlust. The creature is mesmerized by both the blood and the body. With sickeningly slow care he caresses her with his beastly clawed hands. This excruciating scene maximizes the feeling of violation, playing on the audiences fear of their own sexual vulnerability. Lucy, knowing the sun will soon rise and rid the town of this undead monster, pulls him closer as soon at a crucial moment. His violating lust will be his undoing. Her sexual martyrdom is on the disturbing level of Breaking the Waves.

Interview with the Vampire (1994)
Is any vampire prettier than Brad Pitt? This film adaptation of Anne Rice's bestseller gets a considerable boost from Pitt's potent auto-eroticism, which hit its peak with this film and Legends of the Fall (the combo of which sent him into the stratosphere). My favorite moment in the whole of the sumptuous but uneven Interview is when Louis (Pitt) is first bitten by Lestat (Tom Cruise).

Once Cruise has buried his face in Pitt's neck, turning the moviegoing audience green with envy, the movie stars lift off into the air. For a blissful moment or two each time I watch this Neil Jordan film, I believe that the director will make a convention-defying choice and leave the camera resting on the glory of Pitt's face in ecstacy, his eyes fluttering. (As it turns out, it's quite orgasmic to be bitten by a vampire. But maybe everything is sexually heightened when you look like Brad Pitt?) Sadly, Jordan succumbs to the mediocrity of traditional back and forth editing, cutting to Tom Cruise's less attractive and now bloody-toothed face. Gross.

But this is the way of all things vampire: the repellent and hypnotic in tandem.


Update: you'd like to view the blog-a-thon by film & subject click here

The Bloodsucking Blogs
Flickhead has capsules on five favored vampire flicks
Gallery of the Absurd imagines Interview with the Antoinette
House of Sternberg posts original short fiction The Starving
Certifiably Creative offers up Theater Des Vampires
No More Marriages on Pittsburgh as the star of Innocent Blood
Eddie on Film views Fright Night as the top 80s vampire flick
Forward to Yesterday gets political w/ Guy Maddin's Dracula
Silly Hats Only on George Romero's Martin
As Little As Possible loves Dracula: Dead and Loving It
Modern Fabulousity pays tribute to Klaus Kinski as Nosferatu
Low Resolution stays up late From Dusk Till Dawn
Stale Popcorn sings a love song for (sexy) vampires
goatdog on the dwindling House of Dracula at Universal
Cinemathematics on vampire imagery in Shadow of a Doubt
Burbanked Blame the screenwriter: blood sucking edition

...And Still More Undead
Richard Gibson goes contemporary: Martin and The Addiction
When I Look Deep... pits Drácula against Dracula
Pfangirl on a "bloody awesome trio" of lady bloodsuckers
QTA loves the ladies. And so do the ladies in Vampyros Lesbos
Cinema Fromage 'yeah baby, Dracula in 70s London'
zoom-in requests a DVD fix of The Addiction
Stinky Lulu loves Ketty Lester in Blacula
Way of Words on women: from victims to vampire slayers
Music is My Boyfriend offers tunes for the blog-a-thon
Pen15 Club
"When Hilary Duff attacks"
My New Plaid Pants finds Paxton ‘finger lickin’ good’ in Near Dark
Nicks Flick Picks on Coppola's Bram Stoker’s Dracula
Being Boring on the homo-cautionary Interview…
Culture Snob resurrects and old look at Nosferatu
The Horror Blog 'fesses up to some anti-vampire prejudice

The Vampires Are Everywhere!
Tuwa's Shanty on Martin & Nosferatu
Catherine Cantieri the giant sucking sound of 1992's Dracula
The Boob Tubers asks the eternal question: Spike or Angel?
novaslim says a "vuck you" to Grace Jones in Vamp
European Films on Frostbite, a Swedish horror comedy
popbytes recommends Christopher Lee in Hammer's Dracula series
Glitterati points out the most unbelievably cast vampire…ever
100 Films the monster mashup: Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein
Peter Nellhaus on Brides of Dracula
Bright Lights After Dark 'Browning and the Slow Club' (Dracula)
Tim Lucas declares his half dozen favorite vampire flicks
Film Vituperatum Ninjas and Vampires --uncanny similarities!
Film of The Year 'That's Why The Lady is a Vamp'
All About My Movies Angelina Jolie IS a Vampire
Critic After Dark two vampire movies from The Philippines
Agence Eureka a vampire gallery
Cinevistaramascope finds Herzog's Nosferatu superior to Murnau's
Auteur Lust obsesses on Persona: 'The Vampire's In Us'
Bitter Cinema a treasure trove of YouTube vampire trailers
Cutting Room remembers his first time...w/ Bram Stokers Dracula
Watts With Words 'Suck Me' on homoerotic vampires
Jurgen Fauth's Muckworld a 60 second tribute to Kinski as Nosferatu

Happy Halloween! Pray for Sunrise

UPDATE: If you liked this blog-a-thon check out the two others the film experience has hosted on Michelle Pfeiffer (April 2006) and Action Heroines (June 2007)

Tags: blogging, dracula, vampire, Nosferatu, vampires, horror, film, movies, blogs, Halloween, Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise

The Vampire Blog-a-Thon

"They Want To Suck Your Blood!" ~ A Vampire Blog-a-Thon
Scroll down for bloody good reads @
53 other vamping blogs
(click here if you to view blog-a-thon by specific film / subject)


I am a big wuss. It's true. The tiniest thing can frighten me. So I have no idea why I love vampires so much. Nor do I have an earthly clue why I had originally intended to write about Kathryn Bigelow's Near Dark (1987)...

For that underseen horror film, Bigelow enlisted the cast of her then-husband James Cameron's Aliens (1986) to play a wandering group of bloodsuckers: Lance Henriksen, Jenette Goldstein and Bill Paxton are the alien soldier/prey gone western vampire/predator. In Near Dark's most famous sequence they enter a roadhouse and massacre the patrons. It's been a good twelve years since I've seen the film but I've never been able to shake Paxton's demonic "finger lickin' gooood" glee from my memory. Just typing this makes me long for vampires on the more romantic side of the undead fence. Since the most romantic thing about Near Dark is a marriage that shares actors, I'm opting out of a repeat viewing for now. A wuss and a softie.

So when it comes to my preferences in fictional monsters, I'll admit that I'm something of a beauty fascist. Buffy the Vampire Slayer is my favorite TV series of all time, but it has one recurrent motif that makes me die a little inside. Each time vampires in the Whedon-verse reveal themselves, their pretty faces morph into hideous mugs --a little too Klingon / Lost Boys for my taste. If you're going to sink your teeth into my neck, please look pretty while doing so. Don't scrunch up your face.

Since the vampire's "blood is life" myth haunts metaphor rich neighborhoods like Sex and Death, it's no surprise that it's so flexible a fictional genre. It changes with the times. Recent years have downplayed the seductiveness and amped up the savagery of the creatures of the night. When you stop to consider vampiric activity in the Blade and Underworld series or in 80s films like The Lost Boys and Near Dark the violence has become so foregrounded that the erudite romantic vampire is now a dinosaur.

Francis Ford Coppola's divisive batty Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) did try to resurrect the old-school vampire, but I'd say the operatic romance within it is the one thing that most assuredly did not work. In the form of delicious Winona Ryder (just ignore her tone-deaf line readings), this Mina Harker could certainly drive a man to drink...her blood. But in the form of Gary Oldman, this Dracula would have a hard time inspiring recriprocal lust. If you want to ressurect the fanged hypnotic ladies man, he shouldn't have a weak chin. A great actor Oldman may well be. A great romantic leading man he simply is not.

But if we can't have the swooning albeit incongruous romanticism of bloodthirsty killers, can we at least have eroticism? Occasionally we can, yes. The legendary sapphic makeout between Susan Sarandon and Catherine Deneuve in The Hunger (yes, please) and Keanu Reeves's druggy romp with three nubial vamp brides (and how) in Bram Stoker's Dracula are two famous examples. But here are two more cinematic moments worth obsessing on. They're both chilling and sexually charged and, therefore, perfectly vampiric.

Nosferatu (1979)
Is any vampire uglier than Nosferatu? In Werner Herzog's expert adaptation of the silent classic, the disgusting, decayed Nosferatu leaning over the prone form of young and beautiful Lucy (Isabelle Adjani) is a forceful study in contrast. Their lone similarity is their mutually pale skin which, come to think of it, is a perfect statement itself: isn't Lucy already doomed, the moment she concocts her self-sacrifice?

Aside from a moody, well-judged cutaway to bats flying in slow motion, Herzog's camera doesn't ever look away -- for minutes on end -- from the blunt sexuality of Nosferatu's bloodlust. The creature is mesmerized by both the blood and the body. With sickeningly slow care he caresses her with his beastly clawed hands. This excruciating scene maximizes the feeling of violation, playing on the audiences fear of their own sexual vulnerability. Lucy, knowing the sun will soon rise and rid the town of this undead monster, pulls him closer as soon at a crucial moment. His violating lust will be his undoing. Her sexual martyrdom is on the disturbing level of Breaking the Waves.

Interview with the Vampire (1994)
Is any vampire prettier than Brad Pitt? This film adaptation of Anne Rice's bestseller gets a considerable boost from Pitt's potent auto-eroticism, which hit its peak with this film and Legends of the Fall (the combo of which sent him into the stratosphere). My favorite moment in the whole of the sumptuous but uneven Interview is when Louis (Pitt) is first bitten by Lestat (Tom Cruise).

Once Cruise has buried his face in Pitt's neck, turning the moviegoing audience green with envy, the movie stars lift off into the air. For a blissful moment or two each time I watch this Neil Jordan film, I believe that the director will make a convention-defying choice and leave the camera resting on the glory of Pitt's face in ecstacy, his eyes fluttering. (As it turns out, it's quite orgasmic to be bitten by a vampire. But maybe everything is sexually heightened when you look like Brad Pitt?) Sadly, Jordan succumbs to the mediocrity of traditional back and forth editing, cutting to Tom Cruise's less attractive and now bloody-toothed face. Gross.

But this is the way of all things vampire: the repellent and hypnotic in tandem.


Update: you'd like to view the blog-a-thon by film & subject click here

The Bloodsucking Blogs
Flickhead has capsules on five favored vampire flicks
Gallery of the Absurd imagines Interview with the Antoinette
House of Sternberg posts original short fiction The Starving
Certifiably Creative offers up Theater Des Vampires
No More Marriages on Pittsburgh as the star of Innocent Blood
Eddie on Film views Fright Night as the top 80s vampire flick
Forward to Yesterday gets political w/ Guy Maddin's Dracula
Silly Hats Only on George Romero's Martin
As Little As Possible loves Dracula: Dead and Loving It
Modern Fabulousity pays tribute to Klaus Kinski as Nosferatu
Low Resolution stays up late From Dusk Till Dawn
Stale Popcorn sings a love song for (sexy) vampires
goatdog on the dwindling House of Dracula at Universal
Cinemathematics on vampire imagery in Shadow of a Doubt
Burbanked Blame the screenwriter: blood sucking edition

...And Still More Undead
Richard Gibson goes contemporary: Martin and The Addiction
When I Look Deep... pits Drácula against Dracula
Pfangirl on a "bloody awesome trio" of lady bloodsuckers
QTA loves the ladies. And so do the ladies in Vampyros Lesbos
Cinema Fromage 'yeah baby, Dracula in 70s London'
zoom-in requests a DVD fix of The Addiction
Stinky Lulu loves Ketty Lester in Blacula
Way of Words on women: from victims to vampire slayers
Music is My Boyfriend offers tunes for the blog-a-thon
Pen15 Club
"When Hilary Duff attacks"
My New Plaid Pants finds Paxton ‘finger lickin’ good’ in Near Dark
Nicks Flick Picks on Coppola's Bram Stoker’s Dracula
Being Boring on the homo-cautionary Interview…
Culture Snob resurrects and old look at Nosferatu
The Horror Blog 'fesses up to some anti-vampire prejudice

The Vampires Are Everywhere!
Tuwa's Shanty on Martin & Nosferatu
Catherine Cantieri the giant sucking sound of 1992's Dracula
The Boob Tubers asks the eternal question: Spike or Angel?
novaslim says a "vuck you" to Grace Jones in Vamp
European Films on Frostbite, a Swedish horror comedy
popbytes recommends Christopher Lee in Hammer's Dracula series
Glitterati points out the most unbelievably cast vampire…ever
100 Films the monster mashup: Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein
Peter Nellhaus on Brides of Dracula
Bright Lights After Dark 'Browning and the Slow Club' (Dracula)
Tim Lucas declares his half dozen favorite vampire flicks
Film Vituperatum Ninjas and Vampires --uncanny similarities!
Film of The Year 'That's Why The Lady is a Vamp'
All About My Movies Angelina Jolie IS a Vampire
Critic After Dark two vampire movies from The Philippines
Agence Eureka a vampire gallery
Cinevistaramascope finds Herzog's Nosferatu superior to Murnau's
Auteur Lust obsesses on Persona: 'The Vampire's In Us'
Bitter Cinema a treasure trove of YouTube vampire trailers
Cutting Room remembers his first time...w/ Bram Stokers Dracula
Watts With Words 'Suck Me' on homoerotic vampires
Jurgen Fauth's Muckworld a 60 second tribute to Kinski as Nosferatu

Happy Halloween! Pray for Sunrise

UPDATE: If you liked this blog-a-thon check out the two others the film experience has hosted on Michelle Pfeiffer (April 2006) and Action Heroines (June 2007)

Tags: blogging, dracula, vampire, Nosferatu, vampires, horror, film, movies, blogs, Halloween, Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise

Sunday, October 29, 2006

Are You New?

Lately a lot of viewers have been showing up from random google or image searches (I'm talking to you Channing Tatum fans) so you might not have any idea where you are. If you've arrived by accident, take a look around.

There are film reviews (like The Departed) interviews with cool blogs (The Gilded Moose!) true stories (I met Kate Winslet), Oscar Predictions (Mirren leads the pack), pointless obsessions (the casting of Sweeney Todd), silly gossip (Jared Leto is Jennifer Connelly), hero worship (Pfeiffer Forever!) and popular series ("A History Of... Scarlett Johansson"), and much much more.

Bookmark. Subscribe. Comment. Share in the obsession...

Are You New?

Lately a lot of viewers have been showing up from random google or image searches (I'm talking to you Channing Tatum fans) so you might not have any idea where you are. If you've arrived by accident, take a look around.

There are film reviews (like The Departed) interviews with cool blogs (The Gilded Moose!) true stories (I met Kate Winslet), Oscar Predictions (Mirren leads the pack), pointless obsessions (the casting of Sweeney Todd), silly gossip (Jared Leto is Jennifer Connelly), hero worship (Pfeiffer Forever!) and popular series ("A History Of... Scarlett Johansson"), and much much more.

Bookmark. Subscribe. Comment. Share in the obsession...

1982: Terri, Jessica, Kim, Lesley, and Glenn

It's that time again. Last Sunday in the month = A "Supporting Actress Smackdown" with StinkyLulu and posse.


This months installment is very near and dear to my heart: 1982. Why so dear? Well, it's the first year in which I noticed that these golden thingamajigs called Oscars existed. I was staring at a TV Guide in March and there was this photo of an Oscar and behind it, pics from all five best picture nominees (Gandhi, ET, Tootsie, The Verdict, and Missing) --three of which I had seen and had "feelings" about. I had to watch. The rest is history. Oscar night immediately became my favorite holiday. Here's the 'NatReel'...



That's five clippy minutes with a high-spirited crop of Oscar Contenders, three of whom are in movies I never tire of (Tootsie & Victor/Victoria) so head on over and join in the discussion over at the "Supporting Actress Smackdown"

tags: Jessica Lange, Glenn Close, Terri Garr,Oscars, Academy Awards, celebrities, movies, cinema, films

1982: Terri, Jessica, Kim, Lesley, and Glenn

It's that time again. Last Sunday in the month = A "Supporting Actress Smackdown" with StinkyLulu and posse.


This months installment is very near and dear to my heart: 1982. Why so dear? Well, it's the first year in which I noticed that these golden thingamajigs called Oscars existed. I was staring at a TV Guide in March and there was this photo of an Oscar and behind it, pics from all five best picture nominees (Gandhi, ET, Tootsie, The Verdict, and Missing) --three of which I had seen and had "feelings" about. I had to watch. The rest is history. Oscar night immediately became my favorite holiday. Here's the 'NatReel'...



That's five clippy minutes with a high-spirited crop of Oscar Contenders, three of whom are in movies I never tire of (Tootsie & Victor/Victoria) so head on over and join in the discussion over at the "Supporting Actress Smackdown"

tags: Jessica Lange, Glenn Close, Terri Garr,Oscars, Academy Awards, celebrities, movies, cinema, films

Please Standby

Blogger is f***ing with me today. Errors no matter what I attempt. Please forgive posting delays.

Please Standby

Blogger is f***ing with me today. Errors no matter what I attempt. Please forgive posting delays.

"It's Just a Scratch"



The Vampire Blog-a-Thon arrives tomorrow right here and at 40 other terrific blogs. Think of all the blood types! Enjoy this tiny promo to whet your appetite.

"It's Just a Scratch"



The Vampire Blog-a-Thon arrives tomorrow right here and at 40 other terrific blogs. Think of all the blood types! Enjoy this tiny promo to whet your appetite.

Saturday, October 28, 2006

Top Ten Sneak

These are my favorite ten pictures (alpha order) of 2006 so far give or take The Last King of Scotland --I'm reassessing The Queen soon due to poor viewing conditions on my first visit)


Obviously being eternally hopeful at meeting the next Moulin Rouge!, Brokeback Mountain or A History of Violence. I hope this top ten looks different come January 1st.

Still salivating for: Babel, The Children of Men, The Curse of the Golden Flower, Dreamgirls, For Your Consideration, The Fountain, The Good German, Pan's Labyrinth, Perfume and Volver in particular though obviously the possibility of loving something I'm not expecting to is also tantalizing.

Q: What are your current favorites and what are you still desperately awaiting? Tell all in the comments.

Top Ten Sneak

These are my favorite ten pictures (alpha order) of 2006 so far give or take The Last King of Scotland --I'm reassessing The Queen soon due to poor viewing conditions on my first visit)


Obviously being eternally hopeful at meeting the next Moulin Rouge!, Brokeback Mountain or A History of Violence. I hope this top ten looks different come January 1st.

Still salivating for: Babel, The Children of Men, The Curse of the Golden Flower, Dreamgirls, For Your Consideration, The Fountain, The Good German, Pan's Labyrinth, Perfume and Volver in particular though obviously the possibility of loving something I'm not expecting to is also tantalizing.

Q: What are your current favorites and what are you still desperately awaiting? Tell all in the comments.

Friday, October 27, 2006

What's That On Your Head? A Wig!

Marie-Antoinette Week
Sofia Coppola's new biopic of the queen of deficit, Marie-Antoinette, has a killer soundtrack which happened to be the top selling one this past week at iTunes. So gobble it up like a delicious pastry. The CD is loaded with great 80s tunes and other aural wonders. But sadly, no B-52s. But they're there in spirit I'm sure.



What's that on your head?
A wig
Wig. Wig. Wig.


Molly's gotta wig
Asia's gotta wig
Judy's gotta wig
Jason's gotta wig
Rip's gotta cheap toupee
Kiki's gotta big bouffant on
We all got wigs, so let's go!

To the powdered, powdered side of town
in multi colored gorgeous gowns


Beyoncé's gotta wig
Dreamgirls all got wig
Johnny had a wig
Tried to fix Storm's wig
(still looks like hell)
Travolta's gotta big bouffant on
They'll all have wigs, so...let's go!


To the powdered, powdered side of town
in multi colored gorgeous gowns


What's that on Kiki's head?

A wig

Wig. Wig. Wig.

Wig's on fire!'s on fire!'s on...fire!
It's 1775 and we've got the most wigs alive!Wig's on fire!'s on fire! Take it higher!
It's 1775 and we've got the hottest do's alive!


Tags:
Kirsten Dunst, movies, wigs, film, hair, Marie Antoinette, cinema, Sofia Coppola

What's That On Your Head? A Wig!

Marie-Antoinette Week
Sofia Coppola's new biopic of the queen of deficit, Marie-Antoinette, has a killer soundtrack which happened to be the top selling one this past week at iTunes. So gobble it up like a delicious pastry. The CD is loaded with great 80s tunes and other aural wonders. But sadly, no B-52s. But they're there in spirit I'm sure.



What's that on your head?
A wig
Wig. Wig. Wig.


Molly's gotta wig
Asia's gotta wig
Judy's gotta wig
Jason's gotta wig
Rip's gotta cheap toupee
Kiki's gotta big bouffant on
We all got wigs, so let's go!

To the powdered, powdered side of town
in multi colored gorgeous gowns


Beyoncé's gotta wig
Dreamgirls all got wig
Johnny had a wig
Tried to fix Storm's wig
(still looks like hell)
Travolta's gotta big bouffant on
They'll all have wigs, so...let's go!


To the powdered, powdered side of town
in multi colored gorgeous gowns


What's that on Kiki's head?

A wig

Wig. Wig. Wig.

Wig's on fire!'s on fire!'s on...fire!
It's 1775 and we've got the most wigs alive!Wig's on fire!'s on fire! Take it higher!
It's 1775 and we've got the hottest do's alive!


Tags:
Kirsten Dunst, movies, wigs, film, hair, Marie Antoinette, cinema, Sofia Coppola

Links, Episode #201

Center of Gravitas on Halloween costumes falling short. hee
NewNowNext spends some time w/ Pedro & Penelope
Cinematical interviews Augusten Burroughs. The Bening tears him up inside.
Post Modern Barney delivers a fascinating post on 80s vamp film Fright Night. Consider it up a warm up for that blog-a-thon coming Monday.

and something to discuss...
Hollywood Elswhere has two mentions of the already confusing Oscar campaigns for The Departed which you can read here and here. What say ye, readers? Who is lead and who is support? Forget the often dishonest Oscar campaigns. What is the true breakdown in your view for such a highly populated picture.

Links, Episode #201

Center of Gravitas on Halloween costumes falling short. hee
NewNowNext spends some time w/ Pedro & Penelope
Cinematical interviews Augusten Burroughs. The Bening tears him up inside.
Post Modern Barney delivers a fascinating post on 80s vamp film Fright Night. Consider it up a warm up for that blog-a-thon coming Monday.

and something to discuss...
Hollywood Elswhere has two mentions of the already confusing Oscar campaigns for The Departed which you can read here and here. What say ye, readers? Who is lead and who is support? Forget the often dishonest Oscar campaigns. What is the true breakdown in your view for such a highly populated picture.

Notes on Talking to Her During a Scandal

So... as you may have seen elsewhere yesterday, the Notes on a Scandal trailer is out. This sneak is of the infamous What Lies Beneath school of trailer-making *sigh* giving you beginning, middle, end --all the cliff notes you could need so you don't have to read the book. Which is good --the book, I mean, not this school of clipreels. The only reason to go see the movie now is to watch the performances ("Academy Award Winner Dench. Academy Award Winner Blanchett. Ac...and Bill Nighy") which was the primary reason to watch it anyway... so I'm not sure what the trailer gained by telling you everything that it wouldn't have gained by just setting up the story and then *boom* hyping the actors.

I love that Bill Nighy gets his name all vertical alongside the credits. Has that been done before? I can't recall. Clearly Nighy is the sort that could sail to a nomination if prominent AMPAS members realize that he's the sort they like: respected, enduring, gets featured roles but usually not this featured. I also love the poster in general even if it leans heavily on Talk to Her. That's kind of a dangerous movie to compare yourself too qualitatively speaking but the average moviegoer doesn't remember these things anyway. They don't while away their free time giving awards for "best poster".

I can't recall exactly why I originally poo-pooed the Oscar prospects of Notes. It was probably Oscar fatigue in the same way that the Eastwood/Haggis film made me tired just to think on it. Dench & Blanchett: Again? I stuck by the decision all year fully aware that I could easily be forced to reconsider. Judi Dench is always a threat (she's my #6 currently...which is probably silly. When it comes to favored performers like Dench, you're probably in or out but nowhere inbetween. Unless your name is Meryl Streep and you're starring in The Hours circa 2002 but why go there...again)

As for Cate Blanchett. I'm going to lose 97% of you at this very moment --forgive-- but I'm starting to get sick of looking at her. Can't they cast anyone else? She has appeared in 23 (!) movies, many of them high profile, since breaking through with Elizabeth 8 years ago. What this means is that for almost a decade she's been as ubiquitous as Scarlett Johansson has been this year alone.


Now obviously I do enjoy watching both of these overemployed stars [my top ten list for the decade] but when I think about how familiar their faces are and how many great actresses toil away in smaller roles or get none at all year after year it wears on my nerves. I wouldn't trade Cate for the world in her best roles BUT she's had more than her share of opportunities that other skilled actresses would've had career changing experiences with, instead of you know, merely filling up the empty months in their filming schedule.

A rule I wish Hollywood would live by:
No matter how great the star, they just aren't right for every role

I'm not asking for everyone to be Jodie Foster. God knows that 'one thriller every two years' schedule satisfies virtually no one but Jodie. But can't there be a middle ground?

Oh, and one more thing: Notes on a Scandal is a two-hander. The story is about the relationship of Sheba (Cate) and Barbara (Dench). Two women. Two leads. Like Thelma and Louise, maybe, only with underage coitus instead of road trip crime sprees and uncomfortable sapphic overtones instead of handholding girlpower. But we all know what happens in the age of Training Day, Brokeback Mountain and Collateral. Note this recent change to the official AMPAS rules, from page 97. paragraph 1,230:
Should a film have two principal roles of common genitalia, only one actor shall be eligible for placement in the lead category. The other must be demoted to the supporting category, preferrably displacing a lesser known character actor who we don't want to see on television as much.
Dench will be in the leading category. Blanchett in support.

tags: Judi Dench, movies, celebrities, Cate Blanchett, Oscars, Academy Awards, Notes on a Scandal

Notes on Talking to Her During a Scandal

So... as you may have seen elsewhere yesterday, the Notes on a Scandal trailer is out. This sneak is of the infamous What Lies Beneath school of trailer-making *sigh* giving you beginning, middle, end --all the cliff notes you could need so you don't have to read the book. Which is good --the book, I mean, not this school of clipreels. The only reason to go see the movie now is to watch the performances ("Academy Award Winner Dench. Academy Award Winner Blanchett. Ac...and Bill Nighy") which was the primary reason to watch it anyway... so I'm not sure what the trailer gained by telling you everything that it wouldn't have gained by just setting up the story and then *boom* hyping the actors.

I love that Bill Nighy gets his name all vertical alongside the credits. Has that been done before? I can't recall. Clearly Nighy is the sort that could sail to a nomination if prominent AMPAS members realize that he's the sort they like: respected, enduring, gets featured roles but usually not this featured. I also love the poster in general even if it leans heavily on Talk to Her. That's kind of a dangerous movie to compare yourself too qualitatively speaking but the average moviegoer doesn't remember these things anyway. They don't while away their free time giving awards for "best poster".

I can't recall exactly why I originally poo-pooed the Oscar prospects of Notes. It was probably Oscar fatigue in the same way that the Eastwood/Haggis film made me tired just to think on it. Dench & Blanchett: Again? I stuck by the decision all year fully aware that I could easily be forced to reconsider. Judi Dench is always a threat (she's my #6 currently...which is probably silly. When it comes to favored performers like Dench, you're probably in or out but nowhere inbetween. Unless your name is Meryl Streep and you're starring in The Hours circa 2002 but why go there...again)

As for Cate Blanchett. I'm going to lose 97% of you at this very moment --forgive-- but I'm starting to get sick of looking at her. Can't they cast anyone else? She has appeared in 23 (!) movies, many of them high profile, since breaking through with Elizabeth 8 years ago. What this means is that for almost a decade she's been as ubiquitous as Scarlett Johansson has been this year alone.


Now obviously I do enjoy watching both of these overemployed stars [my top ten list for the decade] but when I think about how familiar their faces are and how many great actresses toil away in smaller roles or get none at all year after year it wears on my nerves. I wouldn't trade Cate for the world in her best roles BUT she's had more than her share of opportunities that other skilled actresses would've had career changing experiences with, instead of you know, merely filling up the empty months in their filming schedule.

A rule I wish Hollywood would live by:
No matter how great the star, they just aren't right for every role

I'm not asking for everyone to be Jodie Foster. God knows that 'one thriller every two years' schedule satisfies virtually no one but Jodie. But can't there be a middle ground?

Oh, and one more thing: Notes on a Scandal is a two-hander. The story is about the relationship of Sheba (Cate) and Barbara (Dench). Two women. Two leads. Like Thelma and Louise, maybe, only with underage coitus instead of road trip crime sprees and uncomfortable sapphic overtones instead of handholding girlpower. But we all know what happens in the age of Training Day, Brokeback Mountain and Collateral. Note this recent change to the official AMPAS rules, from page 97. paragraph 1,230:
Should a film have two principal roles of common genitalia, only one actor shall be eligible for placement in the lead category. The other must be demoted to the supporting category, preferrably displacing a lesser known character actor who we don't want to see on television as much.
Dench will be in the leading category. Blanchett in support.

tags: Judi Dench, movies, celebrities, Cate Blanchett, Oscars, Academy Awards, Notes on a Scandal

Thursday, October 26, 2006

Requests? I Miss Them

I assume y'all remember when I use to take requests. I'm officially restarting that weekly feature. Now I know everyone wants the basics: reviews, top 100 lists, moulin rouge recap, etc.. but what I'm looking for is requests for shorter less research-heavy demanding topics --one suggestion I loved was "the cast of Buffy in the movies" but that woulda required weeks of work. Have an easier topic? Ask for it!

previous requests: Best Child Actors (for John T) Classics I Haven't Seen (for Glenn) Favorite Animals (for Cal) Cher (for David) and The Sound of Music (for Becky) * Dolly Parton (for Dusty) *

Requests? I Miss Them

I assume y'all remember when I use to take requests. I'm officially restarting that weekly feature. Now I know everyone wants the basics: reviews, top 100 lists, moulin rouge recap, etc.. but what I'm looking for is requests for shorter less research-heavy demanding topics --one suggestion I loved was "the cast of Buffy in the movies" but that woulda required weeks of work. Have an easier topic? Ask for it!

previous requests: Best Child Actors (for John T) Classics I Haven't Seen (for Glenn) Favorite Animals (for Cal) Cher (for David) and The Sound of Music (for Becky) * Dolly Parton (for Dusty) *

The Bening is Not Pleased

Subjects,

Annette here. What with all this talk of queens, I thought I'd stop by my favorite blog. I'm Hollywood Royalty as you know. Yes...yes... I married in but once you're crowned it hardly matters. Now go and make yourself useful. Quit bothering me with your questions (I stole that line from Ms. Streep. Isn't it great?)

Normally when I visit the film experience I try to bring a little star wattage along so as to illuminate your dull civilian lives. But this time, popping in, what do I discover? "Marie f***ing Antoinette week". Kirsten Dunst staring back at me when I have a new movie out? If Nathaniel thinks he's coming over any time soon to stare dumbly at Warren, he has another thing coming.

Please understand, I have nothing for or against this Kiki person whomever she may be. Warren tells me she's never been nominated for an Academy Award and I HAVE, fans, three times. Where is my week!? (Oh and yes, Warren is quick to know trivia like that --just a little quirk he shares with Nathaniel)

Marie-Antoinette over Dierdre Burroughs? This is as bad as the time that I reached for the NY Times Magazine to stare at my gorgeous new photo shoot and found a f**ing ELEPHANT on the cover? How on earth did Dumbo get higher billing? Is Hilary Skank moonlighting as a guest editor now?

Jesus.


Nathaniel is on notice. I'm making some calls. It better be The Bening week when I get back.

cordially,

Ms. Bening

tags: Annette Bening, movies, celebrities, Hilary Swank, Warren Beatty, Kirsten Dunst, NYT, Oscars, Academy Awards