Tag Archives: vampires
As I’ve said many times, when it comes to storytelling: Take me someplace new! Last night I watched a rather unregarded movie, Bunraku (2010), and it delighted me by doing exactly that.
Now when I say “rather unregarded” what I mean is that both critics and audiences haven’t reacted at all well to it. It has a dismal 19% (critics) / 48% (audiences) rating on Rotten Tomatoes and only a 28 (out of 100) on Metacritic. That’s pretty unregarded. But I’m not sure they judged the movie on its own merits so much as against their own expectations.
It’s possible I’ve mellowed in my old age, but as far as I can tell, I’m still the same old highly critical SOB I’ve always been!
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Leave a comment | tags: Afflicted (movie), Anthony Hopkins, Bunraku, Bunraku (movie), Gackt, Gackt Camui, Guy Moshe, I Origins, Josh Hartnett, Lucky Them, Mark Waters, Ron Perlman, Sin City (movie), Slipstream, Southland Tales, The Blind Watchmaker, Thomas Haden Church, Toni Collette, Vampire Academy, vampires, Woody Harrelson | posted in Movies
Today the merry merry month of May has its final appearance in locations worldwide. If you managed to miss all 31 shows you’re out of luck for the remainder of the season and will have to wait until it hits the road for the 2016 tour. (Hint: order your tickets now; they go fast.)
It’s been a slightly strange month in Minnesota. Temperatures have shown strong indicators towards summer, but winter’s chill has been persistent. Last night’s low was 44 degrees (Fahrenheit), and it’s only 66 degrees here late in the afternoon.
Even the deer are acting strange!
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16 Comments | tags: Angie Harmon, Battle Creek, deer, John Ajvide Lindqvist, Let the Right One In, Lina Leandersson, Lisa Edelstein, Lucy Liu, Michael Chiklis, Minnesota Twins, Rise: Blood Hunter, Sebastian Gutierrez, The Twins, Tomas Alfredson, Toronto Blue Jays, Twins 2015, vampires, Win Twins | posted in Baseball, Life, Movies
Science Fiction — or rather Speculative Fiction — has the general quality that it contains all other fiction genres. There is mystery and detective science fiction. There is romance (and sexual) science fiction. Action? Horror? Psychological thriller? Drama and pathos? Allegory? Westerns? Science fiction has them all and more.
In a sense, SF is just a property that fiction can have. I’ve tried to explain what I think that property is. I also took a stab at separating science fiction from fantasy. Now that thread resumes to explore the idea of SF hardness.
But first we return to and start with…
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29 Comments | tags: Anne McCaffrey, David Brin, dragons, fantasy, Frankenstein, George O. Smith, Greg Egan, Hal Clement, hard SF, Isaac Asimov, James P. Hogan, Larry Niven, Orson Scott Card, Robert L. Forward, science fiction, soft SF, vampires, werewolves, witches, Wizards, zombies | posted in Sci-Fi Saturday
I never intended this blog to be a movie or TV review blog, but I’ve found myself posting about various films or TV shows I’ve really liked (or — in a few cases — really hated). I often get too lost in a story to see myself as a good reviewer or analyst (serious film critics often amaze me by what they pick up on), but storytelling is a favorite area of mine, and I do enjoy writing about it.
Hence forth, I plan to be more open to writing about movies and TV shows. I do enjoy sharing some of the little known gems I find, and — if nothing else — it’s nice to have a record of those and my reactions to them at the time. And (as always) I enjoy a good rant about the ones that pissed me off. I make no claim to being a particularly good critic; take any of these as just my 1/50th of a buck’s worth.
Today I want to share three critically acclaimed, utterly delightful, gems.
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27 Comments | tags: James Spader, Jim Jarmusch, John Hurt, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Mia Wasikowska, Nick Hurran, Only Lovers Left Alive, Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale, Santa Claus, Secretary (movie), Tilda Swinton, Tom Hiddleston, vampires, Virtual Sexuality | posted in Movies
The last time Shark Week passed I found myself musing over the things people find fascinating enough to turn into week-long events or — in at least one case — the actual unnamed theme of an entire cable channel. Let me be clear that I do not intend at all to diminish most such interests. Glass houses! I devote a good chunk of the six months of summer to baseball, so I can’t fling stones (or baseballs).
It’s not the sharks, actually. There’s nothing wrong with sharks. In fact, they’re really tasty, especially grilled. They’re sort of like grilled swordfish, which is also delicious. It’s just that Shark Week got me thinking about fads and fascinations.
There are some that I just can’t fathom!
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Leave a comment | tags: cone snail, grilled shark, grilled swordfish, Juan of the Dead, Scruffy the seal, sea, sea snake, Shark Week, sharks, Shaun of the Dead, vampires, zombies | posted in Life, TV
November shouldn’t pass with just the one post. I intended a post last Science Fiction Saturday to rave about the new Doctor Who episode (celebrating 50 years of Doctor Who), but the day slipped to Sunday before I got the writing motor started. I’ll rave about it now: it was really, really good! A wonderful, delightful milestone marker and, as always, built on a damn good story.
I’ve not been idle lately! Dedicated post-retirement loafing finally shook the work dust off my shoes, and I’ve gotten back into personal project work. Seriously into it. In the 16-hour sessions, sleep and eating are unwelcome distractions, not knowing what time of day (let alone what day of the week) it is sense of seriously.
And I read some really good vampire novels!
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10 Comments | tags: Amy Heckerling, Berserker series, Bram Stoker, Chelsea Yarbro, computer generated images, computer programming, Count Dracula, Doctor Who, Fred Saberhagen, Johnny Dangerously, POV-Ray, Python, science fiction, vampires | posted in Books, Computers, Movies, Sci-Fi Saturday, TV
Logos con carne 