Character of the Week: Warden Dwight McClusky

This week's character of the week is Warden Dwight McClusky, who was played by Tommy Lee Jones in one of my favorite films, Natural Born Killers. He is the Warden of the prison that Mickey and Mallory Knox are brought to. I just love him because he is absolutely crazy and over the top and Tommy Lee Jones plays him to perfection. He only appears towards the ending of the movie, but he steals all of the scenes that he is in.

"I cannot live without my life..."

"I pray one prayer - I repeat it till my tongue stiffens - Catherine Earnshaw, may you not rest as long as I am living; you said I killed you - haunt me, then! The murdered do haunt their murderers, I believe. I know that ghosts HAVE wandered on earth. Be with me always - take any form - drive me mad! only do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you! Oh, God! it is unutterable! I cannot live without my life! I cannot live without my soul"

Song of the Week: I Am A Revenent

Spotlight On: Sam Raimi

This week's character of the week is one of my favorite horror directors. Sam Raimi is the director of the amazing Evil Dead trilogy, and that just makes him awesome in my book. I loved all three of them, as well as some other films that he has made. If I see a movie with Raimi's name attached to it, I just know that it is going to be really cool. Here are my favorites of his films.

The Evil Dead

No matter how many times I watch this movie, the scene where the girl gets raped by the tree always gets to me. You just see it whip its way in and every time I just go "aaaaarrrrgggghhhhhhh!!!!!" It gives me the heebie jeebies. Yikes! Anyways, I love this movie and all of the Evil Dead movies because they have good amounts of gore as well as being wonderfully over the top.





Evil Dead II

I've actually gotten into arguments over this movie. People always try to say that this is a remake instead of a sequel, but god dammit it's a sequel! The only reason why the beginning is exactly the same as the first one is because they are recapping everything that happened. They wanted to show clips from the first movie, but they couldn't for some reason. Anyways, this movie shows the rare occasion when the sequel is actually better than the original.





Darkman

In Darkman, Liam Neeson plays a disfigured man who becomes a superhero! I saw this movie once, and I thought that it was pretty badass. If you're gonna have anyone play a masked hero, it has to be someone with a great speaking voice, and Liam Neeson definitely has that...



Army of Darkness

This movie definitely goes more the comedy route than the horror route. Regardless of this (or because of this?) this movie is still amazing. It's got Bruce Campbell kicking ass with his chainsaw hand, and a whole army of deadites. Love it!



Spider-Man

I REALLY didn't like the third Spider-Man movie, but I did like the first two. I still find myself quoting Bonesaw all the time. "You're going nowhere!" And...you can't beat that upside down kiss!!



Spider-Man 2

Another example of a good sequel. Although I do like the first one better, this one is really good too...



Drag Me To Hell

I absolutely love this movie! It is creepy, hilarious, terrifying, over the top, and disgusting, and was one of the greatest horror movies to come out in the past decade. I remember being very vocal the first time I saw this movie. I was watching it with a big group of friends and we were all laughing and screaming and yelling out in disgust. It was awesome! It has the greatest ending, and I love how baby-faced Alison Lohman gets her badass moment in the graveyard scene when she says "Goodbye!"





Upcoming: his next film is called Oz: The Great and Powerful and it looks really cool. It has the most awesome cast including James Franco, Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz, Michelle Williams, and Bruce Campbell. Can't wait!

Movie I Want To See: The Thing

I am a huge fan of the original John Carpenter film with Kurt Russell. It is one of my favorite movies, so at first I was pissed when I heard about a prequel being made. I am still really curious to see this movie though. The trailer actually looks pretty cool, and I am curious about if they are going to use practical effects like the original, or just shit it all up with some cheesy CGI. In my opinion, if a creature is CGI, it is not scary. Like in the movie The Mist, when there are all those CGI tentacles coming under the garage door, I just thought that it looked corny, and not creepy at all. Anyways, I am looking forward to October so I can see this movie.

Iconic Horror Scene: The Ring (2002)

This scene is from the 2002 remake of the Japanese film Ringu. I have seen both of them, and I have to say that the remake is a lot scarier. There are tons of great scenes in this film, but this is the one that I believe is the most memorable and the most chilling.

It starts out with this guy who notices his TV turn on. You know that he has watched the tape and that his seven days are up, but you don't yet know how he is going to die. He doesn't really think anything of it, so he just goes and shuts it off. Then, it suddenly turns back on, only instead of static, we get the image of the well.

Seeing Samara crawl out of the well is already creepy enough, but then we see her move closer and closer to us until she suddenly crawls out of the TV!

Yikes! You see that she is soaking wet and appears to be oozing water. Then comes my favorite part. Instead of simply walking across the floor to him, she just skips forward! Then you get a nice close-up of her face after her hair moves out of the way. Instead of sweet little Daveigh Chase you get this grotesque looking face.

Love it!

Character of the Week: Hit-Girl

This week's character of the week is from one of my favorite movies from last year. She is Hit-Girl and was portrayed by Chloe Moretz. She is a total badass! She was raised by her father to be this kickass superhero and spends the whole movie kicking ass and taking names. Moretz is my favorite child actor working today and it was this movie that made me start to take notice. While pottymouth Hit-Girl isn't a little girl that I would like to babysit, she is someone that I would like to have on my side if I were ever in a fight. Here is one of the best scenes from Kick-Ass.

Just Finished Reading: The Lady of the Camellias

Such a sad story. I HAD to read this book when I found out that two of my favorite movies, Camille and Moulin Rouge were based on the same novel. Well technically, Moulin Rouge is based on La Traviata, which is based on the novel. I mean, I noticed that they were basically the same story, but on Moulin Rouge's Wiki page, it says La Traviata and not The Lady of the Camellias, and I had never heard of La Traviata before. Camille and Moulin Rouge are actually a lot closer to each other in plot than they are to this book. While there are a lot of similarities, there are even more differences. I still really liked this book, and it kind of made me wish that I was a 19th century stage actress, so that I could play Marguerite. There was one particularily sexy scene where she goes to Armand's house after he sends her a cruel letter and she ends up stripping off her clothes in front of him. Hot! It was even hotter because I really wasn't expecting it, especially in a novel as old as this one. What is really neat is that there were photos from different film adaptations and stage productions of this. So there were a few pictures of Greta Garbo and Robert Taylor, and even a photo of Colin Firth and Greta Scacchi. I haven't seen the latter pair's version yet, but now I'm really curious to. I saw it on sale at Barnes and Noble the last time I went shopping, and I knew I should have bought it! Next time...

Song of the Week: Fuck and Run

My Review: 30 Minutes or Less

Originally my friends and I were going to see Fright Night, but it wasn't playing in our theatre, so we decided to see this movie instead. I'm so glad that we did! This movie is so funny! It is about a pizza delivery guy who is kidnapped and has a bomb strapped to his chest by two criminals. They need him to rob a bank for them so they can get $100,000 so a hitman can kill one of the guys' fathers. I really like Jesse Eisenberg, Danny McBride, Aziz Anzari, and Nick Swardson, so I knew I was going to like this movie, but I didn't expect to like it as much as I did. I thought that they were all hilarious, and there wasn't a single moment when I was bored. I loved all the scenes with McBride and Swardson, and for some reason I seriously thought that the two of them were going to start making out with each other at the end! I don't know why, but I did. They were great as the asshole leader and the nice guy follower. Whats funny is that my friends and I were being just loud and laughing our asses off and the only other person in the theater with us was this old man and I only think I heard him laugh like twice. I guess it isn't for everybody. My rating: 8/10

Spotlight On: Juliette Lewis

This week's spotlight is on a woman who is not only one of my favorite actresses, but one of my favorite singers as well. I was so pissed when I didn't have enough money to go see her at El Corazon when I lived in Seattle! I'm just going to have to see her the next time she comes to Minneapolis. This will be my first spotlight where I am going to post about someone as an actress and a musician. I'm going to start with some of my favorite films featuring Juliette Lewis

Cape Fear

I have never seen the original Cape Fear, but there is no way that it could be creepier than Martin Scorsese's version. Even with all the violence done by Robert DeNiro's character in this film, the creepiest scene has to be the one with him and Juliette Lewis in the school. It is really unsettling because she is so sweet and innocent. This is the film that got Lewis an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.



Natural Born Killers

Love this movie!!! Lewis and Woody Harrelson play Mickey and Mallory Knox, a Bonnie in Clyde type couple. After they kill her father, Mickey and Mallory set off on a crime spree. This film features Juliette as her most badass! I love every scene from this movie.



Strange Days

Strange Days is a really interesting sci-fi movie directed by Kathryn Bigelow that also stars Ralph Fiennes. It is worth seeing simply for the scene of Juliette singing PJ Harvey's Hardly Wait.

From Dusk Till Dawn

In From Dusk Till Dawn, Lewis plays a girl whose family has been taken hostage by two criminals and then brought to a bar that is full of vampires!!! I haven't seen this movie in forever, but I really want to watch it now! Here is what is probably Juliette's most memorable scene.



The Other Sister

This is a movie that my sister and I would watch whenever it was on TV. Juliette plays a mentally challenged girl who falls in love with a mentally challenged guy. It is a really cute movie.



Old School

Although she doesn't have a very big part in this movie, she is in one of the funniest scenes, where her boyfriend comes home to find her in the middle of a "gang bang." I'm pissed that I can't find a video of the scene!

Whip It!

I love this movie, and I love her in this movie! Juliette plays the villainous character who is on the rival roller derby team of the main character played by Ellen Page. I just love how she is such a bitch.



Upcoming: Lewis has some really cool looking movies coming up, including Open Road and Foreverland. She also stars in an upcoming TV show called The Firm.

Juliette was also the frontwoman of one of my favorite bands, Juliette and the Licks. After they broke up, she went solo and continues to make awesome music. Here are some of my favorite songs of hers.

Just Finished Reading: Dracula

I found it quite odd that the title character is barely in this book. I was expecting at least some of the novel to be from his perspective, but none of it is. The only dialogue that he has is in the beginning when Jonathan is at his house. I understand why they had to make up the whole love story subplot for Francis Ford Coppola's film version. If they hadn't, you wouldn't have seen Dracula at all! Having said that, I did like parts of this book. I loved the parts with Lucy. How she is turning into a vampire, and then terrorizing children when she is supposed to be in her grave. I do think that the ending is somewhat abrupt. I mean he just dies. They stab him and he turns to dust.  There is all of this build up and then it just ends like it was no big deal. How lame is that?

New Images from Andrea Arnold's Wuthering Heights

Here are some new images from the newest adaptation of Wuthering Heights, which will be released in the UK in November.

I was hoping for more production still type photos of the cast, but these are still really neat photos. I am really curious about the second one. It appears to be a woman hanging, but as far as I know there isn't anything like this in the novel. I have no idea when this film will be released in the US, but I'm hoping that it is soon. I'm also hoping for a trailer sometime soon...

Character of the Week: Lawrence Talbot

"Even a man who is pure of heart and says his prayers by night, may become a wolf when the wolfsbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright." This week's character of the week is Lawrence Talbot aka The Wolf Man. He was played by Lon Cheney Jr. in the classic Universal horror film and played by Benicio Del Toro in the 2009 remake. He is a man who, after getting bitten by a wolf, starts transforming into a werewolf.


I am a huge fan of werewolf movies, and The Wolf Man is one of my favorites from the classic Universal horror era. What makes Lawrence Talbot different from the other Universal monsters is that he doesn't mean to hurt anyone. Under the full moon he can't control his actions. So, he really isn't a bad guy. Since I loved the old one, I was really excited for the remake to come out. Although it isn't a perfect movie, I still really liked it. How could I not like a film that has Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt, and Hugo Weaving?

Song of the Week: Die By The Drop

Spotlight On: Johnny Depp

He's been mentioned in a lot of my other blog posts, so now I thought that it was time to give Johnny Depp his own spotlight. He is one of my all-time favorite actors and has appeared in several of my favorite films. I just love the different types of roles that he has played. I love how he can play super serious roles, but also ones that are completely goofy. Say what you will about Johnny Depp, but one thing you could never say is that he is boring. He is an actor who, when I see his name attached to a project, makes me instantly want to go see it. He is also incredibly handsome, so that is a definite plus. Here are some of my favorite Johnny Depp films.

Nightmare on Elm Street

Depp's very first films role was in the classic Freddy Krueger film. While he is basically just playing the love interest role to the main character, he does have one of the most memorable NOES deaths...



Cry-Baby

This is a John Waters film, so naturally it is going to be over the top and cheesy as hell. But...that is why I like it I guess. Depp also looks mighty fine in that 50s bad boy look!



Edward Scissorhands

I love this movie! This was Depp's first film directed by Tim Burton, and is also one of my favorite movies. It is a sort of Beauty and the Beast type story, except here the beast has scissors for hands and is really sweet and softspoken.



Benny and Joon

This is a really cute movie where he plays a really eccentric guy who does sort of Charlie Chaplin/ Buster Keaton type routines. The scene at the park and the scene at the diner where he does the Charlie Chaplin roll dance are really cute scenes, but my favorite was always the part where he swings by Joon's window.



Ed Wood

This is another Burton/ Depp film that is also one of my personal favorites. It is about B-movie director Edward D. Wood Jr. and all of the shitty movies he made. I have never seen any of Wood's movies, but if they are anything like they are portrayed in this film, then I know that they are pretty bad.

Donnie Brasco

I don't think that I've seen this entire movie, but there is always a scene that sticks in my mind. It is the scene where Depp's character is explaining what "forget about it" means.



Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

My favorite thing about this movie is hearing Depp's inner monologue. His character is a paranoid, drugged out journalist, so everything he thinks is just twisted and funny. This is probably my favorite of Depp's not-Tim Burton films. It is just really odd and hilarious, and there aren't really any other films like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.



Sleepy Hollow

"It was a horseman, a dead one...headless!" I love Johnny Depp's portrayal of Icabod Crane. Apparently he wanted to add prosthetics to his face because Icabod is supposed to be ugly, but I am really glad that they didn't...



Blow

This is another movie where I have only seen bits and pieces when it was on TV, but I always remember the ending. The part where he gets arrested and can't pick up his daughter always makes me sad. Another really good scene is when he is making the recording for his father.



Pirates of the Caribbean

You don't see too many people getting Oscar nominations for playing pirates. I love Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow! I remember that I was so excited to see this movie when I was 13 that I read the novilization of the movie, and showed up to the theatre while the previous showing was still playing. And I wasn't disappointed! (With the first one anyway...)



Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Although noone will ever been Gene Wilder's portrayal of Willy Wonka, I still think that this one is worth mentioning. This is my least favorite of all the Depp/ Burton films, but I do think that its still a fun movie that has its good parts here and there.



Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

I love musicals and I love gore, so when you mix them up and add Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter you know I'm gonna love it! While he didn't do his own singing in Cry-Baby, he does do his own singing here, and I must say that he's pretty good!



Public Enemies

While this film wasn't my favorite as a whole, I did love Depp's performance as John Dillinger. My favorite scenes were the ones with him and Marion Cotillard.



Alice in Wonderland

It came as no surprise to me (or to anyone else I'd imagine) when I read that Depp was cast as the Mad Hatter in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. He was the obvious choice really...

Upcoming:
He has two movies coming out within a year that I am really excited about. The first is The Rum Diary, which is another film version of a Hunter S. Thompson novel. The one that I am REALLY excited for, however, is Dark Shadows. It is directed by Tim Burton, and Depp plays a vampire! It also has greatest cast. Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Eva Green, Jackie Earle Haley, and more! It is going to be awesome!

Character of the Week: Jessica Rabbit

"I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way." With that oddly proportioned body and Kathleen Turner's husky voice, Jessica Rabbit is a cartoon character that oozes sex appeal. She makes even human men swoon, and for some reason is married to a goofy cartoon rabbit. I have loved Who Framed Roger Rabbit since I was little, and to this day it is still one of my favorite films. I just love the cartoon version of a femme fatale, who is a little Veronica Lake and a little bit Lauren Bacall. Here is my favorite Jessica Rabbit scene.

Just Finished Reading: Anna Karenina

I'm pretty sure that this was the longest book I have ever read. I actually really liked it however. I found the story very interesting, and I would sit and read it for hours at a time because I didn't want to put it down. I actually read like a third of it in just the past two days. While I was expecting a first person narrative from our title character, Anna doesn't actually come into the story about chapter 18 or 19 in part one. The story has two major plots; Anna and Vronsky, and Levin and Kitty. It is interesting because Anna and Levin have so many connections, but they only ever meet once. I thought that it was sad how Anna ended up getting all bipolar at the end, even though Vronsky did still love her. Personally, I think that the worst part of the book was the last section. Even though Part 8 was the shortest section, it seemed like the longest because it was basically just Levin being all depressed.

When I read books, especially ones as long as this one, I always picture them as movies in my head. So here was my cast...

Anna was, of course, played by myself. I always picture one of the characters to be myself, and since the main character was female, that is obviously going to be me. One of the reasons that I didn't really care for At the Mountains of Madness was probably because it didn't have any female characters.

Vronsky was Michael Fassbender. If I was to leave my husband for anybody it would be him. Karenin was Clive Owen. It says that he has a high squeaky voice, but I like Owen's deep voice better. Also, there is a DVD for the movie Closer sitting right by my bed. Oblonsky was Jude Law and his wife Dolly was Jennifer Connely. Levin was Ben Affleck and Emily Browning was Kitty. So that the cast of Anna Karenina in my brain. What is really funny is that I was reading about an upcoming film version of Anna Karenina yesterday, and Jude Law is actually going to be in it, except he will be playing Karenin instead of Vronsky. I was psyched when I saw that Keira Knightley was going to be Anna, but I'm less than pleased at Aaron Johnson being Vronsky. He is way too young!

Song of the Week: Hit the Road Jack

Spotlight On: Jack Nicholson

My mom's birthday was earlier this week, so that is why this week's spotlight is on her favorite actor Jack Nicholson. He is not only her favorite actor, but he is one of my favorites as well because every single performance he gives is just brilliant. I don't think that I have seen any film with Jack Nicholson that I haven't liked. I didn't want this post to be too long, but it is going to have to be because I really didn't want to cut out any of the films that I wanted to write about. Here are my favorite films of his...

Easy Rider

He isn't in Easy Rider for very long, but he definitely plays an important role and left a lasting impression. This was the film that first got Nicholson some serious attention as an actor. It was one of his first major films and it was also the film that got him his first Oscar nomination. He has tons of great moments in this movie, but my favorite part is when he gives his speech about freedom.



Five Easy Pieces

This isn't my favorite film of his, but it is definitely worth watching simply for the scene at the diner. All he wants is some toast!!! Love it!



Chinatown

I saw this movie once and it was a long time ago, so I don't really remember too much about it. I'll never forget seeing this part, though...



One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

This is the movie that won Nicholson his first Oscar, and is also one of my favorite movies. He plays a guy who goes to a mental institution so that he can get out of jail, but then finds out that it is not as easy as he thought it would be.




The Shining

Here Nicholson stars in another of my favorite films. He plays Jack Torrance, a man who starts going crazy when he watches over a hotel with his family. "Here's Johnny!"



Reds

Although I like both Diane Keaton and Warren Beatty, the scenes with Jack Nicholson are by far my favorites in this movie. My absolute favorite scene is when Keaton's character tells him that she got married.



Terms of Endearment

This is the movie that got Jack his second Oscar win. While this film is a little too sappy for my taste, I love Nicholson's performance as Garrett Breedlove.



Prizzi's Honor

I actually liked this movie a lot more than I thought I would. Nicholson plays a hitman who falls in love with a woman who is in the same line of work. I love him in this movie because he plays such a dumbass. My favorite part of this movie is probably the last scene.



The Witches of Eastwick

Such a great cast! I love all of the leads in this movie. It not only has Nicholson, but also Susan Sarandon, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Cher!!! He plays a Casanova type character who charms the three lovely ladies and helps them find their inner witches. I couldn't find a video I could embed of my favorite Jack moment in this movie, but you can watch it HERE

Batman

"Wait til they get a load of me!" Nicholson's performance of the Joker is classic! People like to compare it to Heath Ledger's performance, but I don't see the point. They were both brilliant, but their approaches were just different. I love both, so I don't have a favorite.



A Few Good Men

"You can't handle the truth!" I honestly don't think that I have ever seen this entire movie. The only times that I have seen it are when my mom watches it on TV, so I always just catch the ending. I've seen the ending courtroom scene a million times. Probably the best courtroom scene ever...



Wolf

I love werewolf movies and Jack Nicholson, so this is just a win-win for me.



As Good As It Gets

I love this movie. Nicholson plays won another Oscar for playing an asshole writer with OCD. I love the scenes with him and Helen Hunt, especially at the restaurant.



The Departed

More proof that Nicholson makes an excellent bad guy! I love the entire cast of this movie, and is one of my favorites from Scorsese. I just love the part where he says "don't laugh!!!"