Some scary cinematic story time

You know what we haven't seen on the horror movie front lately? A good old fashioned anthology flick-one of those movies with several terror tales linked together by a suspense driven framework in which the telling of these stories is a stalling tactic by some poor soul looking to avoid their doom.

One of the better attempts at this genre came about in 1990 with the big screen version of the syndicated TV horror series,Tales From The Darkside. Story contributors here included Stephen King and George Romero and the cast had some rather notable names on their roster such as Christian Slater,Julianne Moore and Debbie Harry(who plays a suburban cannibal listening to these stories as she prepares to serve man,or a kid in this case,for dinner).

Even if you never watched the show(which is playing on cable somewhere,I imagine),there is still plenty of thrills and chills for the casual viewer to enjoy:





A few years later,Tales From the Hood hit movie theaters to offer up some sinister stories with social commentary chills on the side. Clarence Williams III played the MC of this quartet of terror as Mr. Simms,a funeral home director entertaining a trio of street toughs looking for a quick score and as is the way of these things,getting more than they bargained for.

While the movie gets a little preachy at times,it does deliver some good scary moments and performances such as David Allen Grier as an abusive stepfather and Corbin Bernsen who plays a former KKK member turned politician who gets a deadly dressing down from a set of voodoo dolls:





When it comes to horror anthology films,most modern day audiences immediately think of Creepshow,another Stephen King/George Romero cinematic collaboration. The movie was a tribute to the horror comic books of their youth(Tales From The Crypt,Vault of Horror,etc)that inspired them and many others in the field to bring more creepy chills to the masses.

King even has a part in the film,as the lead character in "The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill" as an unfortunate farmer who starts sprouting weird vegetation due to a run-in with a meteor. The movie did well enough to get a sequel made,but avoid that sucker at all costs. The first one is the best in bringing home the horror:





To see what all the fearsome fuss was about with Creepshow and others like it,check out 1972's Tales From The Crypt,based directly on the infamous EC comics themselves.

It's a British production starring Joan Collins,Peter Cushing and Ralph Richardson as the Crypt Keeper,who leads a group of strangers into a cave and tells them some pretty freaky stories,several of which were remade for the HBO series back in the nineties.

As much as I liked the HBO version(the first couple of seasons,anyway),the movies made from that revival had solo stories to tell,with a Crypt Keeper front and end skit to round the action out. Demon Knight is the better one of the two,yet still it's not quite right. Hello,it's TALES from the Crypt,not a Tale!:



Hopefully,Hollywood will dig this tattered format out of the horror movie basement,dust it off and give it a snazzy new presentation. In the meantime,we'll just have to make do with those already on the shelf or get creative with some homemade Halloween story telling hijinks to liven up the festivities this year(pranks are optional):

Should Little Women run with the werewolves?

The classic lit monster mash started up by Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is heading towards American authors as well. Recently,Del Rey Books announced the purchase of Little Women and Werewolves,to be written by Porter Grand. No release date has been mentioned but it'll most likely be out and about sometime next year.

While I enjoy this sub genre quite a bit,I have some doubts concerning this one. If the writer was going for a Ginger Snaps vibe with the material,that would be cool but based on the plot description given,it doesn't look that way at all:

"In this retelling of Louisa May Alcott's classic, the beloved little women must keep not just the wolf, but the werewolves, from the door...and the kindly old gentlemen next door and his grandson may have some secrets to hide--or share with the March girls."



Laurie and old Mr. Laurence as werewolves? Sorry,but that just doesn't work for me. Even if they turn out to be fearless werewolf hunters instead,the story would work better if one of the March girls wound up barking at the moon-why not Beth?

The poor girl's doomed any way here,so let her go out with a real bang(delivered by a silver bullet borrowed from the Laurences,courtesy of Jo in a heartbreaking sequence of events)! You could chose Amy as well,I suppose-she's always had a bad case of grandiosity and becoming a four legged beast might be a humbling experience for her:





True,I am a huge fan of Louisa May Alcott's book but that doesn't mean that I consider this material to be sacred text. On the contrary,out of respect for the novel and it's many readers,higher standards are set for any parody/re-imagining/modern day take.



Meg taking up a werewolf lifestyle is hard to imagine. She strives so much for the neat,orderly life of a proper lady that it would be tempting to throw such a huge monkey wrench into her plans.

However,I see her more as the werewolf hunter type. Meg may appear to be a Mary Meek and Mild kind of gal but when her loved ones are under attack,she becomes quite a fearsome foe. If the likes of Aunt March couldn't scare Meg off from marrying the man of her choice,not even a pack of bloodthirsty shapeshifters have a chance in hell against her:





Jo,on the other hand,would be as equally at home on either side of the moon in this hairy situation. Her quick temper and fiery independent nature would be a bonus,not to mention adding some extra angst in her personal struggles to develop a mature level of self control.

Whether she's slinging a shotgun at them or literally running with the wolves,one thing is for certain-Jo's refusal to marry Laurie would make a lot more sense(to some folks)with such a burden to carry along her Pilgrim's Progress:





Werewolves do fit in with strong female characters in paranormal fiction,with such fine examples as Kelley Armstrong's Elena and Carrie Vaughn's Kitty Norville. It is possible to make this match up work and with any luck,attract a fresh new audience of readers as well.

At this point,it's a wait and see game. Hopefully,Little Women and Werewolves will be a fun addition to your library of classic change ups and not a disappointment. The March sisters do deserve the best. There have been many wonderful adaptations of this story and it would be nice to have another to put on the shelves,even if there was more bite than the usual bark of sweetness this time around:

The Nip/Tuck Book Club,in a waiting room near you

Some shows are so popular that they inspire fans of it to find different venues to express their devotion to it. Gilmore Girls and Mad Men,for example,have folks reading books that either are directly connected to the series or invoke the imaginative atmosphere that their favorite characters frolic in each week.

I like this idea and think that it can be extended to shows that don't seem to be a haven for any sort of literature. Inspiration can be best found in the most unexpected places,after all,which many of the better shows on cable TV thrive on as well.

For example,the dramatic high points and sharp,sometimes deadly,slices of social satire of a series like Nip/Tuck(which is starting it's sixth season this week)has all of the juicy details that make for a grandly entertaining bestseller or beach book. In the interest of taking two great things that taste great together,here are my suggestions for the Nip/Tuck Book Club:



ADORED/TILLY BAGSHAWE

One of the attractions of Nip/Tuck is the inside look the show takes into the lives of the rich and occasionally famous. Tilly Bagshawe's debut novel,Adored,is a modern day take on the old school approach to the sexy saga style of writing that follows Sienna McMahon,a descendant of Hollywood royalty on her own path to fame and fortune.

Sienna's journey is rife with glamor and bouts of tragic happenings,very much like many of the plot line of Nip/Tuck. It also has a kicky,almost musical bounce to the proceedings that mirror some of the tone that creator Ryan Murphy has infused into the show as well:





THE LOVE MACHINE/JACQUELINE SUSANN

The title of this book sounds like a description of Christian Troy(Julian McMahon),the wickedly charming seducer that Nip/Tuck fans love to hate and hate to love,not to mention many of his ex-lovers. However,this funtastic little number was written well before his time by the delightful diva Jacqueline Susann back in 1969.

It tells the tale of TV exec Robin Stone,whose road to the top is accompanied by several ladies that are willing to do anything to be his number one. The lengths that some of them go to to and the vengeance taken upon the gals abandoned on the way side would even make Christian pause in his hedonistic pursuits there(for a moment,at least):





FLAVOR OF THE MONTH/OLIVIA GOLDSMITH

Plastic surgery is the key component of Nip/Tuck's ties that bind and the basis of some who need to keep their use of it as a secret. In Flavor of The Month,Mary Jane Moran undergoes massive plastic surgery to shed her heavy girl persona and transform into Jahne Moore,slim and sexy actress who becomes one of three Hollywood hopefuls to star on a hit TV series.

Her co-stars have plenty of skeletons locked inside their closets,such as naive Sharleen Smith whose love for her dim witted half brother is less than fraternal and Lila Kyle,a show business brat with a couple of shockers worthy of a N/T season finale.



MISERY/STEPHEN KING

"Hey,Lady T-this is a horror novel! It doesn't belong here,does it?" Actually,it does,folks because another fun element of N/T is the gruesome craziness that pops up from time to time,like a Halloween haunted house prop.

From the reign of terror that serial slasher The Craver embarked on during Season 3,to Sean McNamara's near death experience at the hands of obsessed former "agent" Colleen during the Season 4 finale and S5 opening episode,there has been gallons of blood spilled both inside and out of the operating room.

I chose Misery due to Annie Wilkes' medical background that makes her imprisonment of her favorite writer Paul Sheldon all the easier for her to keep him contained in her brutal bell jar:





THE GARGOYLE/ANDREW DAVIDSON

Twisted love is another pillar of Nip/Tuck,from Sean and Christian's on again,off again romances with Julia to Matt and his ever widening array of offbeat lovers.

The Gargoyle is the perfect pick-me-up for that sorry lot,with it's badly burned protagonist(a drug using pornographer)becoming a captive audience to sculptress Marianne's tales of lost love throughout the ages that she claims is the story of their own intended romance. Like the song says,love is strange:



Perhaps this show may not be your particular cup of tea or as a longtime fan,you might feel that all of the flavor has been chewed up and spit out for a while now. Nonetheless,it's hard to deny the bizarre appeal of this too weird to be true series and the crazy antics that these folks get themselves into. The books,however,are worth reading and might give you some extra food for thought or at least a welcome retreat during the commercial breaks. In tough times like these,escapist entertainment is worth it's weight in gold:

All the world's a stage but please observe the "No Talking" sign,won't you?

An amusing clip that made it's way around the internet recently was of Hugh Jackman breaking character during his performance of "A Steady Rain" to talk back at an audience member who had their cell phone on. The ringing was so distracting that even co-star Daniel Craig chimed in with his own complaint later:



While it is rude to leave a cell phone on at a public entertainment(especially during a live production)some people thought Jackman was being too hard on the offender there. This is an ancient debate and I thought a good way to discuss the pros and cons of the issue would be thru video.

Talking back at on stage action is a well known tradition,going back to the days of Shakespeare,along with audience members holding conversations loud enough to drown out the dialogue. Those who did so were usually among the upper class and well used to ignoring the concerns of others,a distinction that held on even when theater became an important part of the American artistic experience:



As technology improved and made movies the next big thing in group entertainment,the talkative types followed along suit. Shouting back at the screen did enhance the fun factor of certain genre films but the combination of that with cell phone use and bad timing has caused near riots in several theaters and swift street justice delivered upon the annoying:





Some forms of theatrical events have embraced interaction from the audience whether positive or negative. Stand up comedians have long honed their craft with the aid of hecklers, a number of whom had so much field time that it's a wonder they haven't formed their own union or at least their own award show:



Every now and then,sabotage comes from within as actors allow their personal problems to manifest themselves during show time and give the folks in their seats a little something extra for their money:





While this dilemma may never be fully resolved to everyone's satisfaction,perhaps that is truly for the best. Part of the thrill of going to any show is the possibility of spontaneity,the chance that something will happen that makes things awfully wonderful.

No doubt many of the people at that performance of "A Steady Rain" will have extra special memories from that outburst of Jackman's and altho that shouldn't be taken as an endorsement of rude interruptions,it can lead to unexpected heroics that become the highlight of an artist's career. You never know when the magic's going to happen,so sometimes it's just better to roll with it:

Top Chef gets served at a dinner party,TAR's Lance is no lion and an Office wedding

Top Chef was back last night and the guest judge for this round was Tyler Florence,who started things off with a Quickfire that had each chef use a specially made slot machine to pick three random words to make a dish. Kevin won with his "stressed,hot and Asian" entry of a Vietnamese herb salad with char grilled pork.

It was particularly,especially to Tyler Florence,that Kevin hadn't worked with Asian food before and turned out such a well blended dish. This was a High Stakes QF,so Kevin was given the choice of either getting immunity or 15 grand. Since he's talented enough to not worry about screwing up in the kitchen,he took the money.



The chefs then went home to find out about the Elimination Challenge. Waiting for them in the backyard was Padma,Tyler and members of Macy's Culinary Council(a food charity sponsored by Macy's and headed up by Tyler). Each council member was a well known chef and they all had bags of ingredients.

The challenge was to make family style food for a dinner party attended by the Culinary Council and the judges. A knife pull divided everyone up into teams of two that had to use the ingredients provided by one of the Council. They had three hours to cook,using all of the kitchen space in the house,and serve the food outside.



Laurine hooked up with Brian V,and their halibut with polenta cake and sherry chorizo vinaigrette pleased all of the guests,particularly Tyler Florence whose bag of goodies they wound up with. They landed in the Top Two this round and perhaps the only reason they didn't win was because Tyler didn't want to play favorites there.



Jennifer and Kevin worked together with Tom Douglas' foodstuffs and won the challenge with their barbecued kobe beef and cardimom tomato broth. Jennifer had been feeling sick most of the day(which caused her to flop during the OF),so this win had extra bounce for her.

She made the broth,which was so good that she won a special prize-a gift card from Macy's for ten grand. Nice! I thought it was sweet of her to say she planned on sharing some of that with Kevin,hope he did get a suit out of it.



The Brothers Voltaggio were represented at the Bottom as well as the Top. Michael and Ash used Nancy Silverton's offering to make a hailbut wrapped in pancetta with an egg yolk ravoli that dive bombed,big time.

The fish was overcooked,the pancetta wasn't crispy enough and the ravoli was generally considered to be a bad idea all around. Michael brought up the fact that a power failure occurred during cooking,which affected the fish but no one was buying that. He had taken over this whole challenge and Ash threw himself under the bus,so awed he is of the Brothers Voltaggio. Ash,I get that but that is no reason to sell yourself short.



The one who was sent off to pack her knives was Ashley. She and Eli took Govind Armstrong's sack of food and made prawns with red beet sauce and gnocchi. Ashley undercooked the prawns and left Eli to finish off the gnocchi which he over salted. Since she seemed to be the leader,Ashley took the fall here.

Next week,things are going to be extra tense due to a special mystery guest judge and it looks like there will be more sniping at Robin. I didn't like the way Mikey Isabella treated her as his partner for this last round,which was incredibly stupid of him since they were given Asian ingredients from Takashi Yagihashi that he wasn't familiar with and Robin was. Maybe your dish would've stood out more,Mikey,if you had used that wealth of knowledge right next to you:





Another team that annoys me on this season's The Amazing Race is Lance and Keri,who are a soon to be married couple. Lance is a lawyer and no doubt his obnoxious ego is a plus in his line of work. At the start of this leg,he declared that he and Keri were "lions" and the rest of the teams were just "gazelles" waiting to be pick off.

Well,Lance the Lion and Keri,his Lioness started off on the wrong foot from minute one and barely managed to make it to the Pit Stop on time. They were so slow on the uptake,especially when they didn't understand that the first clue(which was in a small cylinder)was already handed to them,making them late for the Detour.

They need to get their act together right quick,because this game is only going to get harder as they go along:





Tonight on The Office,Jim and Pam are finally getting married and it looks like this will be a great episode to remember. I know that the standard myth of "once they get married,the show's all over" but as TV critic Alan Sepinwall points out,it's really more of a lack of what to do next creatively than the tease portion of the romance being over that leads to the end of a show.

I've been an on and off fan of The Office,but have always loved the PB&J story line and am giddy with glee about this continuation of their love story. It should be pretty damn funny as well,with Michael and the rest of the gang bringing their own special brand of nuttiness to the festivities(not to mention some interesting gifts):



RANDOM NOTES

NIP/TUCK: The new season starts up next week and while the over blown shenanigans at McNamara/Troy are beyond the boundaries of over the top ness,I'll still check it out. As much as I'm trying to like Glee,my main preference for Ryan Murphy madness is this regular two man show:

To be or not to be in support of Roman Polanski?

I wasn't going to get into the Roman Polanski arrest debate,seeing as how he was already going to face the music there and no amount of words could affect that one way or the other. However,listening to some of the defenses and cries of "injustice" from the Hollywood community regarding this whole messy matter,I think it's time to put my two cents in.

Since the woman in question who was victimized by Polanski back when she was thirteen has said she's forgiven him and doesn't want to prosecute,I was willing to respect her wishes. Yet,after Whoopi Goldberg and Melissa Gilbert went on The View with this as a Hot Topic in which Whoopi insisted that this wasn't a "rape-rape",my mind was changed rather quickly:



Whoopi has clarified her statement since then,but one of the things that really bothered me was Melissa Gilbert's notion of a "gray,mushy area" due to the girl's mother having brought her daughter to the house where it happened. To me,that's like saying "Well,if all of those people hadn't taken their kids to Jonestown,they wouldn't had to poison the fruit juice."



It doesn't matter who took her over there,the point is that a violent crime was committed and that Polanski has avoided the consequences of his actions for over thirty years. For Whoopi to go on and on about how sexual mores are different in Europe and Melissa Gilbert giving a wink and a nod to the notion that maybe Roman would be keeping a sharper eye on his own daughter is crass,to say the least(plus,what would Pa Ingalls think,Half Pint?)

Fortunately,not everyone in the entertainment business thinks that Polanski deserves a free pass. Folks like Salma Hayek,Greg Grunberg and Chris Rock are making their opinions well known here and good for them:





It's time that Hollywood inoculated itself from Director-itis,that blind spot where anything a director does in his personal life should be pardoned because he's a great artist(it's similar to Lead Singer Syndrome in the music world). It's no surprise to me that Woody Allen was one of the first to sign a petition for dropping this case and some of the others who did the same really ought to rethink this through.

Yes,I know that Polanski lost loved ones to the Nazis during WWII and Sharon Tate due to the hideous Manson family,but that does NOT give him free license to violate another person. Plenty of other people had suffered similar,if not worse,tragedies in their lives and have gone out of their way to become better human beings,out of respect for the memories of their dearly departed. Nobody's perfect or expected to cope with tough curves that life throws you the same way as someone else does,yet acting like this is just a minor quibble that needs to be swept under the rug is wrong,no matter how you slice it.

Some say that Hollywood has no morals,especially when it comes to their own. That's not true-the difference between right and wrong within that circle is not a foreign concept. It's just easier for some to make excuses for the sins of others than to make what may be an unpopular stand amongst their peers. Sorry to have to go down such a serious road,folks,but I think it may help more of the silent majority in the entertainment industry to speak their minds if they know just how all of us feel.

Hollywood supporters of Polanski,you need to check yourself before you wreck yourself. If you can make movies about how terrible rape is,no matter what the circumstances,then you can also take that same message into the real world where it counts the most:

Announcing the winners of our fabulous Fat Cat Giveaway!

Today,the biggest book giveaway at LRG ends,happily as a fairy tale. The amount of responses to this contest has been wonderful and before we begin,I would like to thank author Robin Brande for allowing me to do this for her. Fat Cat is a good,smart read that,in my opinion, I think both teens and adults will appreciate and enjoy.

Okay,time to get down to business-(announcer approaches the stage,taps microphone to make sure it's working)-and without further delay...(rustle of papers,some of which fall to the ground.) The winners of the Fat Cat book and T shirt giveaway are:




LYNZ PICKLES

KATIESIS

SARAH

ALLISON

And last but not least, BOOK WEIRDO!

(Thunderous applause;Kayne West is prevented from coming on stage)Congratulations to one and all and to claim your prize,please send your mailing address and shirt size preferred to me at livingreadgirl@yahoo.com and I will pass them on to Robin for processing. Your information will be kept confidential.

As a thanks to everyone who entered,we have a few videos to share that showcase some of the favorite fictional scientists mentioned by our contestants. First up is The Big Bang Theory,which has book smart but not always social savvy leading men at the helm. What they lack in suave,they more than make up for in pop culture creativity:



From the Muppet Show,Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and his assistant Beaker managed to make science entertaining and occasionally hazardous duty for poor Beaker:



Criminal Minds has a unique blend of folks with street smarts and scientific savvy to hunt down the bad guys but one of them,Spencer Reid,has caught the eye of many a fan who likes her man sweetly silly as well as cleverly crime solving:



A vote was put in for Bill Nye,The Science Guy,with some doubt about it due to his being a real person. However,since his show took an offbeat approach to educating young viewers about science,it's only right that he get a nod. My sister liked his show a lot and I can see why. Too bad more science classes in school were never as amusing as this:



One of my favorite shows is Heroes and Mohinder Suresh(who sadly is no longer a part of the cast)was a great example of a man striving to do good with the scientific knowledge acquired first by his father and then himself. Mohinder wasn't above making mistakes but he always tried to be on the right side of the extraordinary situations that came his way:



To end things on a musical note,here's Dr. Horrible at the moment of his greatest triumph just before the bitter irony sets in. Thanks again,everyone and remember,when being attacked by a mad scientist,it's a good idea to spell his name right:

Who deserves the horrifying honor of being the ultimate vampire novel?

With Halloween only a few weeks away and vampires being in vogue at this particular pop culture moment,it seems like the perfect time to talk about which book should win the gruesome glory of being considered the ultimate vampire novel.

While most people will automatically say "Dracula,duh!",that answer may not get the popular support of the ever growing fang loving fan base there. Thanks to the great success of TV series such as True Blood and the new teen hit The Vampire Diaries(based on L.J. Smith's YA series),other takes on the classic creatures of the night are being held in higher estimate and in some quarters,are much better known.



A few of the disgruntled will point fingers at the Twilight saga for this,but really,it's more due to the modern day flairs and new twists and tweaks that make the current crop of vamps look sexier and extra enticing than the old blood. Sort of a tried and true method amongst vampires themselves,no matter what the mythology of the moment.

Nonetheless,there are certain standard bearers in this genre and since the continuing strength and stamina of it comes from literature,the importance of reading the classics as well as acknowledging the ground breakers is crucial. To start off,let's look at the Top Five contenders for the ultimate title:



1) DRACULA/BRAM STOKER

Altho vampires have made appearances in myths around the world,their best spokesman has always been the Count himself. Bram Stoker's novel hosts a variety of terror themes that still resonate today such as fear of foreign influences,the alarming advancement of technology and untimely ends for the innocent.

The book's ultimate appeal is the underlying sexuality of the story,particularly towards the ladies,some of whom become predators as well as prey. While the novel doesn't make Dracula a romantic figure,the majority of film and stage versions do in order to sell it to audiences wanting a little dramatic tension. The book may seem tame in that department for readers of our time but to the Victorians who first discovered it,Dracula was hot stuff:






2)INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE/ANNE RICE

While Dracula got the ball rolling,no one can deny that Anne Rice's unexpected bestseller gave vampires a much needed transfusion of cultural currency back in the mid-Seventies. She embraced the sensuousness that surrounded the genre,due to the many movie versions made over the years,and added a few fresh components that would've been taboo to even mention in "polite society" back in Stoker's day.

The numerous follow-ups to the first book wound up getting more convoluted,which lead to Rice taking a break from the genre,but the power of the one that started it all is undeniable:





3)'SALEM'S LOT/STEPHEN KING

Another entry from the 1970's,Stephen King was fast becoming a household name when his notion of "What would Dracula do these days?"hit bookshelves and caught the eager imaginations of readers delighted to be frightened by the thought of their small town friends and neighbors turning into legions of the undead.

King blended the vampire legend with the shiny,happy allure of Americana that conceals a tidy mess of secrets and lies,a cross between Dracula and Peyton Place. Two TV miniseries have been made from the book but the real flavor of the fear factor is still within the pages:





4)DEAD UNTIL DARK/CHARLAINE HARRIS

The shift in social mores has also produced a change in focus regarding female characters. Thanks to the likes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and characters such as Anita Blake and Damali Richards,women have gone from swooning victims to formidable foes against the vampire hordes(altho not without the risk of falling in love with the enemy).

While the kick butt antics have been fun to watch,the need for a more vulnerable but still feisty heroine has been meet by Sookie Stackhouse,the mind reading waitress from Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire series.

In many ways,Sookie has a lot of the same problems as most regular folks such as a never-do-well brother, a hectic work schedule and a troublesome boyfriend named Bill. The only difference is that Bill's a vampire,her boss is a shapeshifter and many of the troubles coming to their little Louisiana hometown have inhuman teeth that bite. The HBO series inspired by the books keeps true enough to the original intentions of the author while making a few new creative steps along the way:






5)TWILIGHT/STEPHENIE MEYER

Love it or hate it,the power of Stephenie Meyer's saga of sparkle vampires is impressive indeed. She may not get the respect that some of the other players in this field get but her storytelling skills are not to be denied.

While you may quibble about the healthiness of Bella and Edward's relationship or the retake on vampire lore presented,Meyer does invoke the tentative terrors of budding romance while allowing her characters to act as realistically as possible within their unusual circumstances.

There's a reason that Twilight has fans amongst adults as well as teens and that is due to the timeless appeal of finding your true love and accepting whatever obstacles that may rise up to stand in your way:



So,which one is the ultimate vampire novel? I think that I'll let you folks decide for yourselves by putting up a poll for you to vote in and please feel free to make other selections known by adding a comment to this post. Feedback is the lifeblood of any fandom,with the understanding that agreeing to disagree is the best policy. This debate is meant to bring people together and not tear them apart,literally or otherwise. With that in mind,okay ramblers,let's get to rambling!:

The Ghosts of Big League B-Movies past,present and future

The B-movie,back in the olden days of Hollywood,used to be the province of the low budget,big flashy style of film making that was lucky enough to break even and make the rounds on the late show TV circuit. Like everything else in these fast paced times,the once little known slice of cinematic cheese has gotten huge,with just as much attention and circulation as it's more respected siblings on the A list.

I see that as a good thing,in some cases. Many a time,the charms of a well made genre flick have given me more bang for my buck than the fancy film fare meant to entice my cinematic palate. So,I thought it would be fun to take a quick look back,as well as forth, at a few of the prime examples of this expanded mid section of general entertainment.

POINT BREAK

To honor the late Patrick Swayze,I thought it would be fitting to showcase Point Break as a fine specimen of the beginnings of the bigger budget B movie. This was also a favorite of my late father as well-he liked a good action thriller every now and then and the combo of Kathryn Bigelow's direction with Keanu Reeves as the undercover FBI agent who takes up surfing in order to bust a gang of bank robbers known as "The Ex-Presidents" was right up his alley(and mine):





DEMOLITION MAN

This was one of those movies that I walked into one afternoon back in 1993,truly not expecting much out of it but wanting to see something regardless. Turns out that I got more than I bargained for.

Yes,it's a sci-fi social satire that ends up with a big blow-'em-up finale but there's a lot of good humor and fun along the way. It's also eerie how many of the P.C. dictates of that future landscape in which old school cop John Spartan(Sly Stallone)was reawakened into are still alive and kicking today.

Even if you don't care about all of that,any movie where Denis Leary is the rebel leader and Wesley Snipes gets to ham it up as the Big Bad is definitely worth watching:






That brings us up to the present,where the release of ONG BAK 2 is soon to be upon us. Martial arts movies are a mainstay and fresh new faces on the scene are crucial to it's continuing success.

Tony Jaa made a great first impression on American audiences in 2004 with the original Ong Bak:The Thai Warrior and followed it up a year later with The Protector.This new movie is more of a prequel than a sequel,so if you haven't seen any of Jaa's formidable fighting skills before,this will be as good a time as any to do so:





When Boondock Saints was first released back in 1999,it had a small run in theaters before becoming a cult movie success on home video. Now,the long awaited sequel due out at the end of October,Boondock Saints II: All Saint's Day,has double the budget and expectations of a much larger theatrical distribution.

It looks as if the follow-up will be along the lines of the black comedy vigilante tone set by the original,with some extra special guest stars such as Peter Fonda and Judd Nelson plus Julie Benz taking over the role of eccentric FBI profiler that Willem Defoe made infamous. Should be a real wild ride:





Now,the gruesome face of the future is leering over the horizon,ready to pounce on us during the winter and spring of 2010 and let me tell you,it may not be as bad as we feared. Despite my many doubts and general misgivings regarding remakes,the trailer for the upcoming new version of Nightmare on Elm Street does hold the promise of a decent tribute to the Wes Craven original.

Casting Jackie Earle Haley as Freddie was a good idea(instead of Billy Bob Thornton as planned)and the film makers's determination to emulate the fright factor of the first film and avoid the comedic pitfalls that plagued later entries in the series clearly shows some respect for the fans there. It's too soon to tell if this reimaging of a modern horror classic will be the exception to the pointless remake rule but hope is alive in this trailer,even if Freddy and friends are not:





Fortunately,even with all of the hoopla surrounding the current vampire craze,there is a bit of fresh blood and creativity out there. Daybreakers shows us what a world overrun by vampires would be like and it's not a pretty picture,folks. The supply of human blood is scare and vampire scientists are racing to find either a cure for their condition or an artificial source that can keep them from dying out.

Ethan Hawke stars as one of the vamp researchers who teams up with a band of renegade humans lead by a former bloodsucker(Willem Dafoe,who else?)to fight the evil corporate interests. Sounds a bit over the top but that's been the lifeblood of B-movies since cinema began,so accept no substitutes!:



Some may think that B-movies are a waste of time and while too many of them in your movie diet is not healthy,they provide a truly necessary service. B-movies give folks troubled by hard times some much needed relief and plant the seeds of movie love within young audiences,a few of whom will be inspired enough to make their own cinematic impact on the world. So,mellow out at your local matinee and bring the family for a real slice of quality time:

The Amazing Race plays Sushi Roulette,Heroes gets a musical moment and who will be The Next Iron Chef?

Since Top Chef took the week off,we get a chance to focus on another food competition show starting up this Sunday-The Next Iron Chef America. This is only the second season of this series(the first one added Michael Symon to the ICA ranks)and it looks the Food Network folks have whipped up a fancy new set for the chefs to compete(plus cook) in.



The only one of these chefs who is familiar to me is Amanda Freitag,due to her being on the rotating judge panel for Chopped. Both she and Alex Guarnascheli are pretty severe critics,so seeing her on the other side of the fence here should be interesting.

The panel she and the others will be facing is made of Donatella Arpaia,Anya Fernald and Jeffrey Steingarten,who is to Iron Chef America what Anthony Bourdain is to Top Chef( or was,rather-I miss him!)-a real tough customer to please. Amanda's a tough cookie herself,so I think she'll do just fine:



I know there are lots of people who bemoan the fact that there are so many cooking competition shows on the air and want more demo type of food TV. Guys,there is plenty of both out there and you need to keep in mind that food is the great equalizer. It's something that the vast majority of the world knows how to do,one way or another,so naturally the interest in them is in high demand. As the Chairman would say,"Let the battle begin!":





The Amazing Race started off season 15 with the usual set of teams and there's one I already don't like. Tiffany and Maria are professional poker players who decided to tell everyone that they work for an organization that helps the homeless,in order to win some sympathy and assistance from the others.

That house of cards fell in on them during the second leg of the race,when a poker fan spotted them at the airport and loudly recognized the gals in front of their competition. Not cool,ladies! That deception brought them a bunch of bad karma that made them the first team to earn a Speed Bump penalty this season.



TAR always likes to mix things up more for each new season and this time out,one team was eliminated at the starting line after a tricky license plate hunt. There's always a crazy food challenge during the race and that was dealt with right away at the first stop in Japan.

All of the teams won up as players on one of those notoriously subtle(not!) Japanese game shows which had one team member having to eat a "wasabi bomb" to move forward. I've never had wasabi,but know that it's a real hot mouthful to choke down there. Maria had to eat two of those in a row-bad karma leads to a bad taste in the mouth,no doubt about it:





Heroes introduced a new character this week;Emma(Deanna Bray)who is an office worker at the hospital where Peter spends most of his EMT time. She insists on concealing her deafness by wearing earphones to avoid pity from others but her powers seemed to be centered around sound.

Emma can "see" sound waves and command some kind of control over them as she discovers one night in the park and takes an impromptu chance at playing the cello. I don't know how her ability will fit into the ultimate scheme for the season but it'll be intriguing to find out:



RANDOM NOTES

MAD MEN: More wackiness this week,of a non bloody nature. Both Pete and Peggy are being enticed into leaving Sterling Cooper by former boss Duck but only Peggy seems to be nibbling at the bait. She went to return Duck's fancy gift of a Hermes scarf at his hotel room and wound up hitting the sheets with him. Some might think this is out of character for her,but after getting a harsh scolding from Don at work,I'm not too surprised that Peggy fell for Duck's amorous approval:



Don,meanwhile,dealt with his frustration at being pinned down to sign a contract by driving around aimless and picking up a couple of hitchhikers happy to share their drugs with him. Stupid,stupid,stupid! Oh,Don-you should know better to think that just because you're a player doesn't mean that you are above getting played: