Monthly Archives: August 2010

Trippin’ the creepy meter II

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Happy Clown Week. BooOoOOO.

I have referenced my long-ago post about clowns on several occasions over the last two-plus years, for various reasons. I know my fiend Stoney agrees with my oft-restated opinion: to me, clowns are neither happy nor funny. They are, in fact, among the most sinister and nightmarish-looking creatures to ever walk the planet. It matters not what kind of clowns they are, or how many pratfalls they perform, how talented they are at making balloon animals, or how goofy they act. They are macabre, suspect beings who seemingly never fail to leave small children caterwauling in abject terror.

Like many birds of a feather, they also have their own cult. Clowns are like the Branch Davidians, only without David Koresh and all the killing and stuff. They are understood by few outsiders, although you’re welcome to join us in the clowning world anytime…

Thanks all the same, but I’ll pass.

Perhaps the creepiest is the curious and bizarre art form of clown eggs. Once you join the “society,” you are entitled to have your visage recorded for posterity — on an egg. Your face is painted on an egg. For rill. Some of them are actually beautiful; not all are skeevy. (But most are.)

And speaking of inexplicably weird, we go from clowns to Basil Marceaux. A brave patriot for sure, but governor material? Not so much. Or cripes, maybe he’d be great — I mean, the political gene pool isn’t too rich with flora and fauna right now, knowmsayin’?

Speaking of clowning around — today is Justin & Jake Overnight day. Play Doh, sidewalk chalk, sand box, trucks, the park, hide and seek, Dairy Queen and a long bath are the orders of the afternoon and evening. Grammie and Grandpa Thriller just might survive it.

:-)

Review: Clash of the Titans

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This isn’t as much a review as it is a comparison — and there really is none.

Several nights ago, we watched the new Clash of the Titans, with Liam Neeson as Zeus. Despite all the great CG action and the realistic-looking monsters, it just didn’t compare with the 1981 original (Liam Neeson compared to Sir Laurence Olivier? Who’s more Zeus-like, seriously?). But it neither starts nor ends there.

My main complaint with the new film is the “rushed” feeling. Characters are incomplete; they lack all form of human frailties and characteristics that initially endear. They all appear self-absorbed and shallow — very much unlike the people in the original. Do you remember actually feeling compassion for Calibos, knowing that what happened to him was not his fault? Could you blame him for being bitter? Wasn’t his love for Andromeda painfully obvious; his pain written all over his face? Not so with the Calibos in the new picture. He was heartless and cruel, and his appearance in the film was ancillary at best.

It seemed to me that the director/screenwriters tried to smash too much information into 90 minutes.

Then there was the ha-ha, wink-nod appearance of Bubo, the mechanical owl, that played such a huge part in the 1981 version. In an early scene, soldiers were perusing the equipment room, gathering weapons to take on their journey. One picked up what appeared to be the *actual* Bubo character, gave it the once-over, then decided it wasn’t important enough to take along. Ha ha.

Again, the niggling (I do love that word) annoyance for me was my waiting for something to make me care about Perseus and Andromeda. Thetis (Calibos’s suffering mother, played wonderfully in the original by Maggie Smith) doesn’t even make an appearance in the movie, which punches a huge hole in the plot:  Zeus’s ultimate selfishness and cruelty, helping the viewer identify with the humans turning against the gods. It’s hard to root for anyone. Blah.

Ray Harryhausen isn’t turning over in his retirement home, but I think he might be twitching a bit.

On the Rat-O-Meter scale of five cheeses, I give the 2010 version of Clash of the Titans:


I’ve been up, down…

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…tryin’ to get the feelin’ again.

A good Barry Manilow tune. I’m thinking of it today, but not because of any sordid love affair. I’m trying to get the feeling back; the one that says “you shouldn’t be thinking about retirement and doing what you want in life.”

The yammering of a spoiled-rotten brat? Yes.

Don’t get me wrong — I love my job and my students. Correction: I love my students and my job does not suck. Sometimes, like everyone I guess, I get overwhelmed with it all. I’m to the point now where I just want to get going on it because the waiting bites. May as well jump in the pool and start swimming for your life.

But not before a little more fun takes place. Lots happening this weekend, not the least of which is breakfast this morning with Mavis, and some major Jake/Justin time. BFF Kay and Bob are coming for dinner on Sunday. It’s all rattastic.

So what are everyone’s plans for the weekend? Tomorrow morning: a movie review.

FO