Who requested a password change?

Thanks a bunch, whoever you are.

Tuesday

Cleared the bathtub and bathroom sink drains. Disgusting. At least they empty now.

Had to use the water bottle on Dolly. She was chasing Gary and Trixie. Not a friendly cat so far. Jack is very nice, lots of fun.

Ordered parts to build a cheap PC to play an old game on called Freespace, supposed to be a good space combat game. Unsure if the computer can be brought up to date later on.

Kind of tired.

NPR story on France’s attack in Mali

NPR’s web site saw fit to “hold” my comment “for review”. That sounds like censorship to me, so here it is:

Here we go again. Mali is a former colony of France. Not a pretty picture, is it? And since when does Islam confer “the presence of Al-Queda”? “Al-Queda” doesn’t exist. It’s like shooting and then calling what you hit your target. Why do I listen to NPR? The propaganda drives me to distraction. Who did France murder in Mali? Just blow up some buildings or what? Why does that so remind me of Winston Churchill dropping poison gas on the indigenous people of the Mid-East. Gruesome and evil misstep by a more advanced nation. May I assume that Mali has natural resources which corporations would like to exploit? Is that the real story?

Cleaned the Raingutters

Yep, I did. Got out the 16′ extension ladder. Started at one corner of the roof. Got all the leaves and twigs and dirt out of the first section of raingutter. No easy way to do it. Position the ladder, haul my carcass up the ladder, take a look at the raingutter… then climb back down, get the hose with the hydraulic nozzle attached, take that back up there on top of the ladder and blast the dirt out of the gutter, make sure everything drained.

Move the ladder, do it again. And again, and again, and again. WHEW. That’s one side of the house. Then to the other side. And the other side of the garage, which I don’t think had EVER been cleaned.

Tore down the snail vine which had gotten out of control. Have to deal with that, I left it hanging there. Moved the ladder again and again and again and again and again and again, a little bit each time, scrape and scoop out the filth, then apply the hydraulic nozzle and blast it all clean. I was good and tired when I finished.

Crawled inside, took a second bath, this one good and hot, and I actually lay down and rested in the water. After I got out and was at the computer and then tried to get up I realized how sore I am.

Did a good job, though. Got the raingutters cleaned. Easier to do on a sunny day than on a rainy day when one of them is clogged!!!

Good work. Yay, me.

Event Horizon

Event Horizon 1997

This should have been the greatest movie of all time. But, no, it’s some horror/slasher movie set in space. Missed opportunity. Big-time.

Here’s how it should have been…

The ship is ready to depart. Goodbyes are said. The ship vanishes. A few days/weeks/hours later, there’s an image of a video burp on the ship’s bridges as they re-enter Earth space. The crew barfs from the nausea of space/time travel. The brilliant blue Earth slowly appears as the ship moves in to orbit. The crew cries.

They are bringing good news home — epic, unbelievably good news.

See the difference already? WHY NOT A POSITIVE PICTURE? We have enough dreamless horror. MAKE IT BETTER. Make a better world from the old one.

This movie could have been, should have been, EPIC. Life-changing, life-affirming — why not visualize a bright future? More than that — why not visualize a MIND-BLOWINGLY EPIC FUTURE which is greater and more joyful than anything ever previously imagined?

Gorgo

Gorgo 1961

Pretty bad Gojira reworking. Couple of salvage divers are caught in a storm which deposits them on an island off the Irish coast where they find Gorgo. What to do? Exhibit it in London, of course! Which is what they do.

Unfortunately, Gorgo is just a baby and his mother comes to find him and is she ever pissed. Oh, my. Destruction ensues.

This is a monster movie, but it’s a real borderline entry. There’s an annoying kid in this movie, which precedes Gamera by about five years. The Gamera films suffering from a string of annoying kids being in them.

Again, for completists only. Not a great film.

—

I broke a wooden toothpick in half and used the pieces to prop my eyelids open in order to watch this movie from end to end. It’s not THAT bad, but it is one of those movies which you’ll wish you had the chance to re-edit, if not re-shoot a few scenes out of.

There are a number of opportunities (missed opportunities) to build suspense. An easy way to have done this would have been to NOT succumb to the temptation to show the large mother Gorgo, glowing eyes and all. Rent a fog machine. Don’t give away all of your secrets.

Even when it’s clear that the mother Gorgo is headed to rescue its ugly little baby, no one in the British military has the wherewithal to suggest moving the little monster closer to its mother. I do enjoy seeing the special effects of world armies being defeated without end when battling giant monsters. Seeing civilians suffer and die, not so much.

The protagonists, both played by good actors from the era, come across as greedy and shallow-minded. The kid actor actually grew on me. At least there was some humanity in the film — the kid is concerned about the monster and knows that the men are making a mistake by taking it to London. The subplot with a greedy harbormaster and his Viking gold is not very appealing. Life is worth much more than gold.

Overall? You could do worse, it’s somewhat entertaining. But you will think of ways to improve the film. Which is different than sitting back and thinking “Wow, what a great story that was.” My favorite films entertain me, not make me want to fix them.

Varan the Unbelievable

Varan the Unbelievable (大怪獣バラン) 1958

Find the Japanese version — the hack-job US version is unwatchable. The Japanese version is odd. And, I must say, has amazing sedative powers. I’m not certain that I’ve ever been able to remain awake through the entire picture.

First scene: a rocket being launched and some frenetic piano music. This makes no sense and has nothing to do with anything else in the movie.

Two university scientists are dispatched to a remote area to try and locate a rare butterfly. The locals are unfriendly. Suddenly, a huge monster squashes them dead. Next, three more scientists head out to the remote area to see what happened. They get a cool reception, also. And they manage to rouse the sleeping monster, who squashes the village.

So the survivors head back to the remote area with the usual complement of Japanese military hardware. Which is promptly squashed by the monster WHO THEN SPROUTS WINGS AND FLIES OFF. Kind of an unusual plot twist, but, hey, you’ll probably be asleep by this point anyway.

Eventually they figure out a way to trick Varan (the monster) into eating a bomb. It’s a Japanese giant monster movie from the golden age, but there’s a reason you’ve probably never heard of this one.

The US version is to be avoided — one of the worst films I’ve ever seen.

Movies Referenced in the theme song of the Rocky Horror Picture Show

Michael Rennie was ill the day the Earth stood still
Michael Rennie played the alien in The Day the Earth Stood Still
But he told us where we stand
And Flash Gordon was there in silver underwear
Buster Crabbe starred in Flash Gordon
Claude Raines was the invisible man
Claude Raines was the Invisible Man
Then something went wrong for Fay Wray and King Kong
King Kong
They got caught in a celluloid jam
Then at a deadly pace it came from outer space
It Came From Outer Space
And this is how the message ran:

Science Fiction – Double Feature
Dr. X will build a creature
See androids fighting Brad and Janet
Anne Francis stars in Forbidden Planet
Forbidden Planet
Oh-oh at the late night, double feature, picture show.

I knew Leo G. Carroll was over a barrel
When Tarantula took to the hills
Tarantula
And I really got hot when I saw Janet Scott
Fight a Triffid that spits poison and kills
Day of the Triffids
Dana Andrews said prunes gave him the runes
And passing them used lots of skills
Night of the Demon
But when worlds collide, said George Pal to his bride
When Worlds Collide

The Citizen Kane of horror movies

The Wicker Man 1973

Unique and very well-made movie. I have a copy on VHS which runs 103 minutes, meaning that the expunged scenes are included.

The story unfolds nicely, introducing our hero and then telling the tale of why he traveled to Summerisle… intricate, clever and frightening. Sophisticated and entertaining. Christopher Lee is typically magnificent. I’d read that he feels this is his best film role.

Spooky goings-on, a murder investigation, weird ritual practices… it slowly builds and builds. Very well-paced. And it delivers big-time.

Really an excellent film. Original, well-told — 100% recommended!

The boys say there’s a girl behind every tree.

The Deadly Mantis 1957

Goofy giant bug movie set in the Arctic. Giant praying mantis wakes from its slumber, finds it is not in a good mood. Finds meaty little bugs to eat as it flies south.

Horribly cheesy dialog combined with overacting and odd casting. The male lead is a hunky Adonis type who we’re supposed to accept as head paleontologist at the Museum of Natural History. He has a sidekick, Alix Talton, who’s really annoying. She takes photos and screams.

She also completely hypnotizes the all-male crew at an Arctic Air Force base. It’s embarrassing. You’re glad to see the giant praying mantis show up again just to get the picture moving once more.

Very little suspense. The special effects are disappointing. A giant praying mantis is just not that scary. And it ends up in a tunnel under New York City for no apparent reason. Where I believe it is bored to death by the actors reading their flat dialog.

I’d love to tell you that this movie is the greatest thing ever, but it just isn’t. It’s not very good, but it IS a giant bug movie. It could have been much better. Again, for completists only.