This is second only to Christmas as my favorite holiday. I mean when else can you give candy to little kids and not end up having to register with the town due to Megan’s Law? Ok, ok I know a few of you are like “Dude that was soooooooo not right.” But think about it random kids, some with adults, some without, all showing up at your place to get candy I mean what pedo-bear can resist!
I have such fond memories of Halloween, all the candy. Well except that one year when the crap all started. You know the “good ol’days” when you could go out there with your friends and not worry about some scary dude kidnapping you or eating a wonderful apple only to find a razor blade in it, which is a HUGE urban legend. Those wonderful vinyl costumes that have now been deemed such a fire hazard they got banned. Ahhhhh memories! I wonder how close I came to becoming permanently fused with my Chewbacca costume I guess I’ll never really know.
I do remember my mom insisted on going through all the candy I got to make sure it was all wrapped properly and safe. Actually I think it was a ploy so she could select the candy she wanted before I went into a sugar induced craze.
So what the hell has happened? Where are all the ghoulies and beasties? Is it that we have more nutbags now or do we just have more news outlets reporting on them whipping people into a No Trick or Treat frenzy? When I lived on Long Island I lived right across from an elementary school. We lived there for over 5 years and never got a single trick or treater. Not one! Which was fine with me because then I got to eat all the candy I bought and wreck terrible vengeance on my co-workers as I entered that sweet, sweet sugar high.
Maybe parents either don’t want to send their kids out or just don’t have time to go out with their kids. Maybe you don’t know who your neighbors are so you don’t know who to trust. I’ve lived in my apartment complex going on three years now and I have no idea who my neighbors are at all.
It just breaks my heart to think of all those kids never getting to experience the joys of a pillow case full of candy, the mouthful of cavities, and the belly ache the next day and possible vomiting from over indulgence. They won’t get that thrill of ringing a doorbell and not knowing if they would get candy, get yelled at or get the shit scared out of them from a guy in a mask.
DAMN IT PEOPLE! It’s a right of passage! Don’t deny your munchkins those joys! Get out there, get them a costume, and give them a pillow case and let them stuff themselves like Piñatas!
Friday, October 30, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Where The Wild Things Are
Ok so my girlfriend and I saw this on Sunday (10/18/09). It was FANTASTIC, I loved it, it made me happy, made me sad and made me remember what a real mess childhood actually is. Now all I read are how this isn't a kids' movie and how it doesn't go anywhere. Whine, cry, whine I don't remember it being like this.
We all have this magical notion of what growing up was/is like, well get your heads out of your asses. We all had crap we hated about childhood and loved, it wasn’t the Normal Rockwell painting or Little House on the Prairie. It was tough on a lot of levels and adults need to remember and recognize that. THIS is what made Where the Wild Things Are such a stellar book. It put words to what kids were feeling and made adults remember oh yeah growing up was kind of crappy and confusing.
Is this a flick for kids, well no, but have you read the damn book lately? It’s not exactly a “kids” book either. It is kind of dark as well. It’s one of the reasons it took so long after it was first published to garner any type of awards. People even HATED, yes HATED the book. Just watch the interview with Mr. Sendak here on dailymotion.com.
Now for the criticism that “nothing happens”. Yes it does. Max realizes, I believe KW sums it up perfectly, being a family is hard. He realizes that he can’t have everything his way all the time like Carol and everyone has moments where they are unsure and feel neglected. Max goes home, his mom is waiting she gives him the HUGE I love you hug every kid and adult wants every day of their life, he eats and life goes back to what it was. Welcome to reality folks. Nothing and I mean nothing got closure for you when you were a kid. Everything went back to the status quo for you growing up until you were actually able to make some kind of change to the environment you were in. until then you were along for the ride and just prayed you never hit your head on the roof when you hit a bump.
So Where the Wild Things Are IS NOT A KIDS’ MOVIE. The book WAS NOT REALLY A KIDS’ BOOK. This is a beautiful movie, with a few pacing issues but something people should see remembering my previous statement.
Oh yeah and adults stop romanticizing all your childhood memories and actually remember for a change. It will save you time and disappointment in the long run.
Whew I feel better now.
We all have this magical notion of what growing up was/is like, well get your heads out of your asses. We all had crap we hated about childhood and loved, it wasn’t the Normal Rockwell painting or Little House on the Prairie. It was tough on a lot of levels and adults need to remember and recognize that. THIS is what made Where the Wild Things Are such a stellar book. It put words to what kids were feeling and made adults remember oh yeah growing up was kind of crappy and confusing.
Is this a flick for kids, well no, but have you read the damn book lately? It’s not exactly a “kids” book either. It is kind of dark as well. It’s one of the reasons it took so long after it was first published to garner any type of awards. People even HATED, yes HATED the book. Just watch the interview with Mr. Sendak here on dailymotion.com.
Now for the criticism that “nothing happens”. Yes it does. Max realizes, I believe KW sums it up perfectly, being a family is hard. He realizes that he can’t have everything his way all the time like Carol and everyone has moments where they are unsure and feel neglected. Max goes home, his mom is waiting she gives him the HUGE I love you hug every kid and adult wants every day of their life, he eats and life goes back to what it was. Welcome to reality folks. Nothing and I mean nothing got closure for you when you were a kid. Everything went back to the status quo for you growing up until you were actually able to make some kind of change to the environment you were in. until then you were along for the ride and just prayed you never hit your head on the roof when you hit a bump.
So Where the Wild Things Are IS NOT A KIDS’ MOVIE. The book WAS NOT REALLY A KIDS’ BOOK. This is a beautiful movie, with a few pacing issues but something people should see remembering my previous statement.
Oh yeah and adults stop romanticizing all your childhood memories and actually remember for a change. It will save you time and disappointment in the long run.
Whew I feel better now.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
The Dollhouse
So we are coming into episode 3 for most of the new TV season and one show is breaking my heart: Dollhouse. Now I am a professed Whedonite, Whedonist, Whendofile whatever you want to label me. I loved Buffy, I got friends and family to watch it, I then got them hooked on Angel all because Joss was doing something new for old horror. But every since Firefly something has been off with Mr. Whedon. He stories don’t have the punch, the surprise, the new way of viewing an old story. For example in the 1st season of Buffy when he took the theme of the Invisible Man and spun it around the girl becomes invisible because she is ignored and not only did the government know this happened they took them and turned them into assassins! Yes I realize it’s a very brief summary but those who know, know what I am talking about and if not click here.
Then he was just producing and giving advice but Buffy was still solid, he went off to do Angel and got that on the right track as well. So he was able to walk away from either show leaving it in the hands of some solid writers and a cast that worked well together. And I think that’s the key, the cast worked well together. There was a sense that they liked each other regardless of the plot line. Now whether that was true or not who knows, who cares it made the show enjoyable and is probably why when the leads from both series went off to a BIG movie career it pretty much became a tiny movie career. David Boreanaz having learned his lesson is back on Bones (fantastic show by the way and you should be watching it) and Sarah Michelle Gellar is…well… married to Freddie “I couldn’t act like I was in pain even if you shot me in the face” Prinze Jr. WTF happen there!?
Anyway…let’s address that, the actors that is, not Sarah’s poor choice in movie rolls and men. So far none of the characters make me care about them or the situation they are in. I don’t think to myself “Hmm I wonder how they will handle X this time.” At the end of the episode she gets wiped and things go back to base 1.
Now Eliza Dushku is hot and a solid foil or sidekick but as a lead actress, well she just doesn’t have the chops to pull it off. She isn’t a bad actress but as a lead she just doesn’t give it any punch, especially now since she is aware of what’s happening to her. But is this really her fault. I mean how can you care about a character that is always changing and getting put back to square one. Even now with her remembering things she still talks like a blow-up doll would if they could talk: “I still feel it, we feel everything.” A line that should have been dripping with emotion really driving home the ramifications of doing what they do in the Dollhouse was delivered like dead fish to market. Now maybe she was directed to do that who knows but that made me actually say “Oh come on!” Watch a few reruns of Tru Calling and I think you can see my point. But is this the fault of the actors?
Joss has only written 4 or 5 of the episodes himself and he directed those and was the producer. Perhaps he hasn’t set the right tone for the series yet so his writers just don’t know how or where to push the show. Maybe and here I think there is more than a little truth; Joss can’t do more than 2 things at once! Buffy or Angel were solid shows when he wasn’t writing them but when he took the time to write an episode and direct it those shows were the best thing on TV. So perhaps he needs to just focus on writing and directing for Dollhouse. After all who else knows better how the scenes should look and feel than the guy that wrote it.
So we are moving into episode 3 of the second season on Friday. I hope Joss pulls it together and delivers some emotional bang or gives me something I can latch onto, because right now it just seems like they are airing episodes so they can put out The Complete Dollhouse Season 1&2 on DVD.
Then he was just producing and giving advice but Buffy was still solid, he went off to do Angel and got that on the right track as well. So he was able to walk away from either show leaving it in the hands of some solid writers and a cast that worked well together. And I think that’s the key, the cast worked well together. There was a sense that they liked each other regardless of the plot line. Now whether that was true or not who knows, who cares it made the show enjoyable and is probably why when the leads from both series went off to a BIG movie career it pretty much became a tiny movie career. David Boreanaz having learned his lesson is back on Bones (fantastic show by the way and you should be watching it) and Sarah Michelle Gellar is…well… married to Freddie “I couldn’t act like I was in pain even if you shot me in the face” Prinze Jr. WTF happen there!?
Anyway…let’s address that, the actors that is, not Sarah’s poor choice in movie rolls and men. So far none of the characters make me care about them or the situation they are in. I don’t think to myself “Hmm I wonder how they will handle X this time.” At the end of the episode she gets wiped and things go back to base 1.
Now Eliza Dushku is hot and a solid foil or sidekick but as a lead actress, well she just doesn’t have the chops to pull it off. She isn’t a bad actress but as a lead she just doesn’t give it any punch, especially now since she is aware of what’s happening to her. But is this really her fault. I mean how can you care about a character that is always changing and getting put back to square one. Even now with her remembering things she still talks like a blow-up doll would if they could talk: “I still feel it, we feel everything.” A line that should have been dripping with emotion really driving home the ramifications of doing what they do in the Dollhouse was delivered like dead fish to market. Now maybe she was directed to do that who knows but that made me actually say “Oh come on!” Watch a few reruns of Tru Calling and I think you can see my point. But is this the fault of the actors?
Joss has only written 4 or 5 of the episodes himself and he directed those and was the producer. Perhaps he hasn’t set the right tone for the series yet so his writers just don’t know how or where to push the show. Maybe and here I think there is more than a little truth; Joss can’t do more than 2 things at once! Buffy or Angel were solid shows when he wasn’t writing them but when he took the time to write an episode and direct it those shows were the best thing on TV. So perhaps he needs to just focus on writing and directing for Dollhouse. After all who else knows better how the scenes should look and feel than the guy that wrote it.
So we are moving into episode 3 of the second season on Friday. I hope Joss pulls it together and delivers some emotional bang or gives me something I can latch onto, because right now it just seems like they are airing episodes so they can put out The Complete Dollhouse Season 1&2 on DVD.
Welcome to Suggested For Mature Readers
Yes the title is going to be utterly misleading. I am a 12 year-old trapped in the body of a 36 year-old. I say 12 because I am allowed to operate a stove alone and can make models all by myself. So let me fill you in on what you are in store for here:
- If you want daily updates you got the wrong guy. I am a Gen Xer so I have the attention span of a gnat, be happy I remember this after a month.
- I will be anything but mature.
- A ton of biting sarcasm and a lot of rants.
- I am a gamer, nerd, TV/movie, anime and cartoon watcher and I read comics. So expect reviews from time to time.
- I reserve the right to delete anything from this blog I see fit.
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