Last year, it was the glorious What’s Your Scott and Jean event – in which several geeky bloggers got together to talk about their geek sacred cow. Now, the good folks at Alert Nerd are back with another Mega-Blog Crossover Event. And this year, the theme is…..True Geek Confessions:

The Background: Unpopular opinions: we all have them. Sometimes you stand alone in loving a super niche-y run of a popular comic book series (like Sarah and her Tefe Holland thing). Sometimes you’re the only person on the entire planet to ’ship a certain ’ship. Sometimes you simply Do Not Get a movie the rest of your geeky brethren is falling all over themselves about. And because a lot of fandom is about sharing loves and hates and communing with your fellow geeks, this can feel awfully lonely. But perhaps if we confess our most unpopular opinions for all the internet to see…well, we’ll feel just a little bit better.

Here’s what you do: On February 17, write up a blog post with your own True Geek Confession. Send your link to sarah AT alertnerd DOT com. We will add you to our master list blog post and you can link back to said post. It will be exciting and wonderful and will hopefully not provoke too many “die in a fire” type arguments.

Of course, we Smugglers could not let the opportunity pass for another geek-out session in which we are to share our deepest, darkest, geekiest secrets ever. It is not going to be pretty, but with the Powers of Greyskull guiding us, we shall bare our souls to you! **NOTE: We are posting our entry a day early because of a scheduling conflict! So all you folks have an extra day to come up with your own Geek Confessions, should the mood strike!**

Ana

I will just go ahead and say it:

There. I said it. And I will not be ashamed of it.

I loved the Ewoks for years before I came to love Star Wars and, I didn’t even know this was an unpopular opinion until a few years ago when I finally watched the movies. Come to think of it, maybe my True Geek Confession should have been: I didn’t watch the original Start Wars trilogy until 1999 when I decided to get ready for the Phantom Menace ( I have no reason, no excuse for that I am afraid. I was lame, that is all. I hang my head in shame, please do not revoke my geek card?).

But anyways. Ewoks. I grew up watching the dudes. One of my favorite movies when I was a child was Caravan of Courage – that movie with the family stranded in Endor with the cute little sister befriending the Ewoks and the Ewoks helping them retuning with their parents?

It seemed to be on TV all the time and I watched it every single time. It is one of my fondest childhood memories and I can’t think of it without having a severe case of the sniffles.

I haven’t watched the movie in ages and I am not sure it will stand the test of times. But I am not sure I even want to know.

But then there was also the cartoon which was one of my favorites.

It was on in the mornings in the same children’s program that aired Dungeons and Dragons and Thundercats. Whenever I was able to stay home from school or when on holidays, I always tried to watch these!

So to me the Ewoks evoke childhood, the memories of watching television in the afternoon after doing homework, drinking milk with cookies. I associate it with good things, always. So when I finally watched The Return of the Jedi in a special session at the movies (pre Phantom Menace) with a bunch of friends who were Star Wars fanatics and I saw the Ewoks and I was like, “OMG the Ewoks, I love them” and my friends looked at me positively horrified and tried to explain to the newbie how the Ewoks destroyed the Return of the Jedi with their cuteness or some such bullshit I was just like “Yeah, yeah, whatever, talk to the hand.”

I love the Ewoks. That is my True Geek Confession. Who else is with me?

Thea:

First off, Ana, I am with you. I first saw Star Wars when I was a young girl of six, and I immediately loved Jawas, all the different droids, and, yeah, Ewoks. I still have my DVD of Caravan of Courage. *pumps fist in the air with Ana*

But that’s not my True Geek Confession.

My Official Confession is…

Seriously, I adore this movie. Why, you ask? It’s a Geek’s Wet Dream. Let me count the ways.

1. Sky High is essentially a young superhero story, in a sort of New Mutants/Teen Titans sensibility. You’ve got a universe where superheroes are commonly known and accepted, and kids with superpowers attend Sky High – a high school in the sky (that constantly moves location for the kids’ safety from super villains and the like). The movie follows Will Stronghold, son of superstar superheroes The Commander (gifted with super strength and invulnerability, played by Kurt Russell) and Jetstream (gifted with the power of flight, played by Kelley Preston), on his first day as a freshman at Sky High. All the freshman have to go through “Power Placement” – that is, they show Coach Boomer (a hilarious Bruce Campbell – who, incidentally, is the perfect I-take-myself-waaaaaaay-too-seriously Gym Coach) their superpower, and he determines whether they go on the Hero track, or the Sidekick track. That is, depending on how badass the kid’s superpower, he or she is relegated to a life of High School popularity and career prosperity….or nerdy mediocrity. Will has a LOT to live up to, as the son of two very famous superheroes, and he’s got a big problem: his superpower hasn’t manifested yet. It might not manifest at all. And he, along with his friends, are relegated to sidekick duty.

Of course, there’s a diabolical plan from an unlikely super villain (recruiting other young villains, world domination, etc). AND even better, romance, high school drama, best friends, the whole gamut. What is NOT to love about this awesome geekiness?

2. CASTING. Where else are you going to see Lynda Carter (aka Wonder Woman), Bruce Campbell (aka Ash), Kurt Russell (aka Snake, aka R.J. MacReady, aka Captain freakin’ Ron), Dave Foley (hey, Kids in the the Hall!), Kevin McDonald (hey, Kids in the Hall again!), Cloris Leachman (aka Phillys Lindstrom), and Kevin Hefferman (aka Farva) together in cheesy abandon?

And these are just the adults! The kids are fantastic too – I love the guy that plays hero Will, Michael Angarano (whom you may recently have seen in Gentlemen Broncos or The Forbidden Kingdom). Layla, played by Danielle Panabaker (of the crappy Friday the 13th remake) is awesome, as is Steven Strait (10,000 B.C., The Covenant, Stop-Loss). Made of WIN.

3. The kitschy names: Will Stronghold. Warren Peace. Gwen Greyson (for Gwen Stacy of Spidey fame and Dick Grayson of Batman fame). Principal Powers. Mr. Boy. Mr. Medulla. Royal Pain. You get the idea.

4. Little touches like the costumes/wardrobe and music. Each character has a specific color scheme: Will (and his mom and dad) only wears red, white, and blue. Layla, the hippie-ish girl with Poison Ivy caliber super powers over plants, only wears green. Magenta, surly girl that shapeshifts into a guinea pig, purple. Gwen Grayson, smart, popular, class president, wears pink. Etc, etc, etc.

All the boys in the film wear converse all stars for the entire film, in the color of their wardrobe (an homage to The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, a Disney film from the 1960s starring Kurt Russell).

All the music is from the ’80s but recorded by new artists. It’s the little things that really stick out and make Sky High so much fun.

5. The high school movie awesomeness. There’s an unrequited love story, the pressure of living up to your parents’ legacy, the ever-present dichotomy between “cool kids” and “geeks,” high school nemeses, bullies, crazy teachers…you name it.

So there you have it. My love affair with Sky High is one that I am no longer ashamed to share! Yeah, it’s cheesy, yeah it’s Disney – but damn, it’s good. I watched it in the theater with my baby sister when it first came out and was hooked.

So there you have it! Our very own True Geek Confessions. Anyone that wants to make something of it, or share your own confession, we invite you to comment away. Remember, you can join in the posting fun – just write up your own True Geek Confession post and then shoot the link over to Alert Nerd.

As for us, we’ll be around. Now, excuse us while we watch our Caravan of Courage and Sky High dvds…

Lost will be back this Tuesday with a two-hour premiere starting its sixth and final season. There will be another 16 episodes and then ALL WILL BE OVER.

Excuse us while we have a moment.

Ok, we are back. After 5 seasons of mind blowing happenings, twists and turns, ghosts, psychics, physics, pseudo-physics, religious overtures, polar bears and boars and horses, time travel, deaths, births, The (ZOMBIE) Love Quadrangle of Doom (that nearly drove us insane), numbers, coincidences, fate, mumble jumble, whispers, hatches, Others, other others, villains, double crossings, WTfuckery and whatnots, we repeat: All Will Be Over.

Needless to say, we, as die-hard fans of the show since its inception, have high expectations for this last season. And there are a few things that we would like to see happening in our little screen in order to make us happy:

1) A Grand Unified Theory of Everything.

Physics geeks FTW! Darlton (that’s the ’ship name for writer/creators Damon Lindeloff and Carlton Cuse) have promised us a Lost GUT since the beginning, and we are going to be so incredibly pissed if it turns out to be any of the following: Snowglobe, Purgatory, Paradise Lost, All just a dream or whatever.

We’ll be even MORE PISSED if there is no Grand Unified Theory of Everything answer for everything that has happened so far.

We will be so mad if they give us nothing, or if they cop out with a Twilight Zone ending. If the writers simply say any of the following:

1. LOST island is just a weird island that moves around the south pacific because of electromagnetism
2. Jacob, Ghosts of People That Have Died, Smokey, et. al. are mere figments of the imagination brought on by electromagnetism
3. The whispers are completely forgotten (or are simply The Others)…or are sounds created by electromagnetism
4. Richard Alpert is just a lucky dude that has had a long life because he is on the island and can jump around because of…electromagnetism
5. The island heals people because….electromagnetism
6. Desmond can flash through time because….electromagnetism

TELL US WHAT THE POINT IS. No more pseudo “well, duh, it’s electromagnetism” crap! Is Lost Island an alien experiment that spawned all life and religion on earth? Is it Hell? You promised us a Grand Unified Theory DAMMIT, and you WILL DELIVER.

(Just so you know there are a grand total of 325 unanswered questions so far. You can read them all here)

That is really what we would like to see. Above all else. A measure of reasoning and sanity behind it all: the clear and unmistakable proof that there was a plan behind everything that we saw in this show. That we were not just jerked around for the sake of WTF!OMG!POLARBEAR moments. If we get ANSWERS, even if we don’t necessarily LIKE them, we will be happy campers indeed (ok maybe not happy campers per se, but you get our drift).

The rest will be icing on the cake, like:

2) A Measure of Happiness

These people have been through a lot. We mean, a lot. Yes, some of them do have reproachable pasts. Some of them did Really Bad Things. But the majority of the characters deserve at least, some measure of happiness. We are talking about Hurley, for example. If that dude, doesn’t get a happy ending, somehow, somewhere, we will be devastated.

Or Sun and Jin. Claire and Aaron. Locke. And Desmond. Speaking of which:

3 ) DESMOND

We would really like to know if Desmond is really as special as we think he is. All signs, in our opinion point to “Yes”. We have geeked out on a Grand Desmond Theory for years, ever since he first showed up in season 2. In season 5 he took a back seat (he hardly even showed up) that made us seriously doubt ourselves. And that cannot be. We are hoping he will come back with a bang in this last season and prove us right. Or the universe will collapse.

4) The End of the Quadrangle of DOOM once and for all.

The Love Quadrangle of Doom gave us stupid scenes like the one above. But we saw the end of it, when Sawyer found happiness with Juliet. They were cute together. They were in love. BUT at the end of season 5, Juliet fell to her death. That, coupled to the possible reset, prompted by the Hydrogen Bomb blowout may point out to a reset of the Quadrangle as well. We hope this is not the truth. (Although, deep in her heart of hearts, Ana still sort of hopes of a Sawyer-Kate ultimate hook-up) (And so does Thea. Even though she knows it’s not gonna happen).

5) Sawyer

He better have an heroic ending. No other character has had such an awesome arc as Sawyer. He went from a sleazy womaniser, self-absorbed con-man to a mature, responsible, leader that people could look up to. We would prefer he made it alive and well, but if he dies he better die a heroic death. No backtracking, please. We are just saying.

And one last thing: He Walks Amongst Us But Is Not One Of Us

(If you are sick and tired of us bitching and moaning about Jack, avert your eyes now!)

The ONE thing we are not prepared to see is for Jack to be the beginning and end of everything. If the Grand Unified Theory of Everything is …. Jack…..

…because he is the Incarnated Something from Somewhere (as his godforsaken tattoos from that scary Thai chick with the alien chest might signify) we actually think our collective brains will literally explode and our faith on TV shows will forever be tarnished by this blackness of profound lack of creativity. This can not happen. We don’t think we can ever recover after that.

And that is it! What about you, fellow Lost geeks? What do YOU want from the Final Season?

Last week we were left somewhat numbed and shocked by the unexpected news that Spider-Man 4 is no more, after both Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire left the movie and that the franchise is going to be re-booted! *gasp* *shock* *hyperventilation*. Ok, so what that Spidey 3 sucked huge donkey balls? Tobey Maguire IS Spider Man/Peter Parker and we feel not a little bit sad that he will won’t be playing the superhero anymore.

SO, what better way to cheer ourselves up than to have a look at other Comic Book Superheroes/Heroes/Villains/Others that will be making their transition into the big screen this year?

Kick-Ass

Based on the comic book Kick-Ass by Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr about a teenage boy named Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) who decides to become a (powerless) super-hero . The movie co-stars Nicholas Cage as a hilarious vigilante called Big Daddy and all trailers so far have been awesome. Premieres April 16th.

Jonah-Hex

Based on a DC Comics. Ok, so this one stars Josh Brolin and John Malkovich AND it is a Western about a horribly scarred, Civil War Veteran turned bounty hunter trying to stop an evil dude from raising an army of undead Confederates using voodoo. We are SO there. EVEN with Megan Fox as part of the cast. Premieres in June.

The Losers

Based on a Vertigo series which ran for 32 issues from 2003 to 2006, The Losers tells the story of a CIA Special Forces Team who were betrayed by their leader, left for dead and now set for revenge. The movie stars Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Chris Evans and Zoe Saldana. We are intrigued. Tentatively scheduled for June.

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World

Based on the comic Scott Pilgrim it stars Michael Cera as a bass guitarrist who must fight the seven EVIL exes of his new girlfriend who is named, wait for it, Ramona Flowers. From the official website:

Scott Pilgrim has never had a problem getting a girlfriend. It’s getting rid of them that proves difficult. From the girl who kicked his heart’s ass — and now is back in town — to the teenage distraction he’s trying to shake when Ramona rollerblades into his world, love hasn’t been easy. He soon discovers, however, his new crush has the most unusual baggage of all: a nefarious league of exes control her love life and will do whatever it takes to eliminate him as a suitor.

As Scott gets closer to Ramona, he must face an increasingly vicious rogues’ gallery from her past, from infamous skateboarders to vegan rock stars and fearsomely identical twins. And if he hopes to win his true love, he must vanquish them all before it really is game over.

And finally, not really a newbie, but we had to include it:

Iron Man 2

We both loved the first movie and can’t wait for this sophomore effort. Not only does Robert Downey, Jr returns as Tony Stark but Don Cheadle plays what appears to be an awesome War Machine as teased in the trailer:

And hey Michey Roarke as Whiplash doesn’t look too shabby either!

May 2010 can not come soon enough!

This Saturday, and every Saturday for the duration of the TV season, we bring you On The Boob Tube with The Book Smugglers:

in which we talk about all those water cooler moments of the past week’s episodes, raving about the good, ranting about the bad.

Ana’s Favorites:

Dexter

Meh, this week didn’t do much for me. I was expecting a lot more after Dexter killed an innocent man last week. Even though the episode did deal with it, a la Dexter (by examining and comparing) , I still felt underwhelmed. I was surprised that Trinity tried to kill himself and the whole euphony he went through was WEIRD. And what about Deb’s find that Lundy’s killer can not be Trinity? WTF? Who was it then? Do we have a suspect? I have to admit, the first person I thought was the skanky journalist but I have no motive. And Rita. Rita, Rita, Rita do NOT DARE cheat on Dexter.

Castle

Another great, amusing episode. I liked this week’s case even though I guessed the killer from the start, but it was great seeing Castle being led by his nose in this one. I still can’t suspend my disbelief though with the NYPD walking around and including him in all of their interrogations and investigations. And can I ask a question? When does exactly he actually you know…WRITE?

Modern Family

OMG , I finally watched the first episode of Modern Family and I can’t believe how hilarious it was! How come I did not know that Al Bundy was in it. And Phil! – could that be? No, it can not be! But maybe? Surely not? The new Michael Scott? Cause all of his scenes were definitely cringe worthy. loved it and am adding it to the must-watch list!

Supernatural

Dudes. I am watching it but I am saving the snark-fest for this year’s Smugglivus’ Airing of Grievances.

V

LOVED the episode. Especially because there is now a Most Hawt Mysterious character for me to crush on! The infiltrated doctor, I am betting he is this John May! The twist with him killing the FBI guy and then blondie being Anna’s daughther was cool too. I am really digging this show.

House

I thought the whole episode was STUPID. House is back to manipulating people in the worst of ways. the whole thing with Thirteen (GOD I hate that woman) and Taub was ridiculous. I can’t believe Cameron left so easily and I can’t believe Chase didn’t leave with her! Come on! He was never THAT into the team anyways, now he wants to stay and the woman he loved for ages is finally THERE for him? COME ON. Gaah. Yeah, Cameron’s final speech was touching but too little too late in my opinion.

The Office:

One word: Re-Cyclops.

Thea’s Favorites:

Dexter

It’s really coming down to the wire now – you can feel the end of the season RAPIDLY approaching. Sob. I am going to miss you Dexter.

Well, this week was solid once again, although I’m more than a little annoyed with the implication that Rita’s going to sleep around on Dexter (next door neighbor douche – to quote Dex, “Do I see sheets of plastic in your future?”), and that someone other than Trinity shot Lundy and Deb. My money right now is on Quinn’s reporter girlfriend (aka Ms. No Top). Although I’m more than a little pissed that yet again, there’s another Batshit!Crazy! girlfriend on the show. Can we get some originality here? A non-clingy/bitchy/insane female character please? No? (on the flip side, someone about Deb’s height with motive for murder – it COULD be Dexter himself. He could be snapping – his murder of an innocent man last week proves this. Wouldn’t that be a helluva twist!?)

Quinn is also starting to remind me of Doakes in more than one way…I don’t really like the guy that much. I don’t know how much longer he may be with us…

House

GAAAAAAAAAAH. Thirteen is back. Whoopdeefuckingdoo. I think Jennifer Morrison leaving the show wasn’t really handled that well – they could have milked it a bit longer. As is, Cameron’s reasons for leaving the hospital (and the show) seem a little thin. I would have loved it if she had to grapple with Chase’s decision to kill the dictator, which didn’t affect her nearly so much as Chase being manipulated by House. Her final speech to House, admitting why she loved both him and Chase was touching, I’ll admit. I’ll really miss Cameron. She was a great character, a great moral center for the show. Sigh.

Castle

Not much to say, except, hee! I love Castle. His relationship with Alexis is so wonderful. I loved how worried he was that she was hiding something from him, and when it turns out she decides not to go overseas (at least for now), it’s sweet. Awwwww. That is all.

V

The plot thickens!!!! I *loved* the end, where Lisa (the cute blonde V) is Anna’s daughter! I am so looking forward to an Anna versus Erica showdown. I love how feisty Elizabeth Mitchell is, and I am definitely developing a soft spot for her and the priest. Now what exactly is “The Fifth Column” and who the hell is John May as their leader? I’m definitely getting LOST vibes from the show (hello, Jacob), but in a good way. I’m loving this.

Modern Family

How much do I love this show? It’s easily the funniest new show of the season, and it’s got so much potential. This week, the lovely, HILARIOUS Elizabeth Banks makes a cameo, as does Edward Freaking Norton! Talk about some solid actors! Elizabeth Banks as drunky McFun girl (who resents Lily for stealing her two gay best party buds) and Ed Norton as british bass player from the ’80s absolutely rock.

Glee

This episode was SO CRINGEWORTHY. Every other scene I would be ducking my head, embarrassed for each of the characters. Hilarious yes, but cringeworthy. Kurt and his plan to get Finn to quit girls entirely and sob into his shoulderpads – brilliant. Rachel’s inappropriate school girl crush on Will – awkwardly wonderful. SUSIE PEPPER! Effing awesome – she’s all Molly Shannon circa Superstar. With peppers. Also, mixed in with the cringeworthy hilarity, there’s a lot of heart too – Quinn being kicked out by her family was really sad stuff. I hate what she’s doing to both Puck and Finn (come on, Finn deserves to know the truth even though he’ll most likely still stay with her), but I feel sorry for her too. Looks like the cat’s out of the bag though – I’m pretty sure the baby daddy news will get back to Finn soon enough.

Community

Another really solid episode! Loved Jeff sucking up to Senor Chang (aka El Tigre), especially LOVED the An American Tail drops throughout. Somewhere, out there…beneath the *pale* moonlight….

The Office

HAHAHAHAHA! The shareholder meeting didn’t go so well. I love the timely message, and how Oscar chickens out when it comes time to speak to the executive board. Also, Recyclops? WIN.

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia

The D.E.N.N.I.S. system. *facepalm* It seems like a lot of work just to get a good bang in, but whatever works I suppose! It’s such an evil, exploitative system….and it’s hilarious in how well the whole thing works. Also, Sweet Dee and her marine were pretty damn funny here too. Man, I love these assholes.

And that’s it from us! What about you? Any TV moments you care to share?

This Saturday, and every Saturday for the duration of the TV season, we bring you On The Boob Tube with The Book Smugglers:

in which we talk about all those water cooler moments of the past week’s episodes, raving about the good, ranting about the bad.

For the Week of November 7 to November 13

Ana’s Favourites

Mad Men

This season final was very good and wrapped up the season beautifully. Starting with what I expected would happen: that Don WOULD leave Sterling Cooper to start a new agency. What I did not see coming was Sterling and Cooper themselves joining him. It was great fun though to see their antics, their attempts to co-opt other people and to steal stationary stuff from the office! And I loved that they brought Peggy, Peter and Joan along too!

Now, on the Private Life of Din and Betty Draper: OMG can that woman be any more stupid??? I was ultra happy that she decided to go be happy with the dude and ask Don for divorce BUY BETTY HOW DO YOU LEAVE A HUSBAND ANT TAKE YOUR KIDS INTO A NEW MARRIAGE AND DOESN’T EVEN ASK FOR MONEY FOR YOUR OWN SECURITY? Because WOMAN! What if things don’t work out with the new guy? You barely know him! What will you do, moneyless? Will you go back to Don and ask for help? And you know what? I am pretty sure the guy will turn out to be a bully!

Now, we wait and see.

Dexter

What is up with Trinity??? He freaked me out this episode. The whole scene at the woods, was just….I don’t know. Does he suspect Dexter or is he going into another cycle….but so soon? Is he “broken”??? why? So many questions!

And Dexter! OMG he killed an innocent man, thus breaking his code. What will happen next? Will he realise that he is a true sociopath and perhaps not feel anything about it? Or is this “external” code stronger than his internal wiring? How will he deal with that – I think that this killing will mean a lot to the show, perhaps we are witnessing the beginning of the end : it is easier to forget and forgive him when he is killing other serial killers. But an innocent man? Not so much.

And poor Batista and Laguerta!!!

Castle

How do I adore this show? Not only the weekly mysteries are interesting/keep me guessing, I SO adore Castle. And Castle and his mom. And Castle and his cute daughter . oh and Castle and Beckett – oh the chemistry. It slays me. I am loving it!

House

Yay, House is back after a break! Once again, the relationship between House and Wilson proves to be the best one on this show – loved their interaction but there is no surprise here. THERE IS a surprise in finding out that Cuddy is all. …cuddly with the PI dude! wtf????????? And the ending when Chase tells Cameron about the dude he killed? I am worried. Can’t wait to see her reaction.

V

Didn’t think this one lived up to the pilot but thought it was pretty cool. From the opening sequence I just KNEW that the V!FBI dude would so come back. And I love the telltale sign of a V – the blinking eyes. I am pretty sure this will come into play bit time. I am not sure I like Erica’s son though – he is annoying me. A LOT. But I am still surprised that Scott Wolf doesn’t.

And who is already shipping Erica and the priest? *raises hand* (and yes. I know it’s wrong)

Glee

This episode was amazing. I cried I laughed, I CARED. Starting with the Artie storyline and the whole thing with the wheels. His solo of Dancing With Myself (my favourite Billy Idol song!) was awesome. Then Quinn being a complete bitch with poor Finn and Puck – so unfair – why does she think she can get away with it? Then, there is Sue and the most surprising info about her life and finally, Kurt and his dad. I LOVE his father, he is awesome. Their scenes were incredible. Loved this episode.

The Office

There is a reason why The Office is one of the best sitcoms ever and this episode was a brilliant example: the complete crazyness that this office is coupled with Michael being LAME yet LOVEABLE. I mean, how wrong is it in the face of possible ruin, he decides the answer is to play Murder? And yet, it turned out to be the right thing to do! Them everybody getting to play southern accents? Oscar’s was so funny! and OMG Creed thinking that it was for reals and then leaving the office and then finally, the stand -off of “double agents” Michael, Dwight, Andy and…..Pam! LOLOLOL. I was in stitches.

Thea’s Favorites

Dexter

Another crazy week on Dexter – I’m with Ana. I think Trinity is on Dexter’s game. Clearly, his ritual isn’t quite done yet, I think there’s one final murder that Lundy never was wise to…hence the crazy coffin. (On a funny note, last week in the comments Kristen said that Trinity’s a nice guy as long as you leave his ashes alone – and this week we can add “and as long as you don’t interrupt him while he’s sanding down his COFFIN” to the list)

And holy smokes, Dexter killed an innocent man. This is HUGE. This could be bad. That’s a line that Dexter cannot EVER afford to cross…I wonder how this will play out. Nail biting will ensue.

House

Yay, it’s back! Except…things are looking increasingly grim for the gang. Someone leaked that Jennifer Morrison will be leaving the show this season (I saw it on the TV Guide cover while waiting in line at the supermarket)…so, methinks Chase’s news is NOT going to go over well. (GODDAMMIT this means fucking Thirteen is back dammitDammitDAMMIT). Also, how adorable are House and Cuddy?

Castle

What Ana said – Castle is so much fun. This week’s episode was more of the same awesomeness – I love Castle’s quippy asides. And how does Beckett NOT know about the movie Quicksilver with Kevin Bacon and Paul Rodriguez?

V

Hell fucking yes, show 2 was pretty solid. V has promise, and I’m jumping on this train. Alan Tudyk is ALIVE! Aaaaa! I agree that Tyler is annoying, but I can understand why he’s such a lying jerk to his mom (I mean, he is a rebellious teenager). Once again, Elizabeth Mitchell is made of awesome, and holy crap Tori from BSG was in this episode! I automatically assume she’s a V too – Cylon, V, she’s never EVER to be trusted.

Glee

Yay, Glee’s back too! And this was a surprisingly touching episode – not only because of Wheels and how his teammates finally understand what he’s going through, but because of Sue’s hidden past, and because of Tina’s stutter story. AND ohmygod, Kurt and Rachel’s duet of Defying Gravity was….goosebump inducing.

AND while we’re on Glee – did you know that the kid that plays Wheels actually was in a bonafide boy band before the show? I looked him up and couldn’t stop laughing. Just watch the video HERE. He’s the first one singing. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Community

Another solid episode! I loved Abed’s future prediction powers – is a werewolf REALLY coming to campus? Oh god I hope so.

The Office

“Well I do decla-ah!” Bwahahahaha! Another solid episode, and I want this murder mystery game. It looks fun. And holy crapoly, Erin and Andy! *facepalm* They are adorable. And oh my god, Oscar’s accent was the WORST I have ever heard. EVER. Amazing.

It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia

Mac and Dennis really are a codependent couple, and their breakup was pretty funny stuff. But one of my favorite pairings is when Dee and Charlie hook up, and the cat-in-the-walls thing was again, hilarious.

AND that’s it from us this week! What have you been watching?

This Saturday, and every Saturday for the duration of the TV season, we bring you On The Boob Tube with The Book Smugglers:

in which we talk about all those water cooler moments of the past week’s episodes, raving about the good, ranting about the bad.

For the Week of November 1 to November 6

Ana’s Favourites

Mad Men

The last two episodes were everything I have been hoping for with regards to Don facing both his past and his present mistakes. Betty finally confronts him about what she found and he breaks down and tells her everything. It was a very good scene where I realised, not for the first time how good an actor he is. I was kinda sad for him at the same time that I was totally and completely HAPPY that he was getting what he deserves and that came in this week’s episode – when Betty tells him that she does not love him anymore. Awesome.

When this season first started and I learnt it was 1963, I knew that the JFK’s assassination would have to come into play at some point, and I was not disappointed. It was well expected to see how it touched all the characters and there was one scene in particular that left me really surprised only because I was not aware of the fact that Lee Oswald was shot , live on TV! Betty screaming at the TV was…whoa, man.

Next week, is the final episode of the season and I really want to see how all storylines will come together. Here is hoping that part of the team will leave Sterling Cooper for their own agency – that would be all kinds of awesome.

Dexter

Oh my word! Hhow freaky and yet totally cool is John Lithgow playing serial killer Trinity? One moment I think he is totally scary , the next he is as cuddly as a teddy bear. The moment that Dexter and us , viewers realise that Trinity leads a regular life with family, kids and he is a deacon at church was quite possibly one of the most memorable scenes in Dexter, ever. Then, of course, there is the hope that Dex feels that he too, can have it all, which is the theme of this season. And this is proven by how over and over again he gets away with things. Rita on the other hand is annoying me so.freaking.much.

But seriously, how awesome is Deb this season? I don’t think I ever liked her this much. The scene at the parking lot where she breaks down after Lundy’s murder was so raw and so sad. I honestly cried a lot in that scene. I am also really, really enjoying how Quinn is helping her and I yes, I am rooting for a future hook-up. What can I say? It is the shipper in me!

Castle

One word for you: Browncoat. The Halloween episode was all kinds of cool with Nathan Fillion donning his Firefly costume again and I was totally geeking out at it. Other than that, the show is so very pleasant – yes each week’s case is your usual police procedural but they manage to make it interesting; and of course the
chemistry between Castle and Becket is another one that pleases the shipper in me!

V

DUDES! THE PILOT WAS AWESOME! I loved every second of it, the acting, the special effects, the tension, the divided loyalties. I even liked Scott Wolf! V has so much potential. I won’t say anything else as we plan to write a post about it after the second episode (just in case this one was a fluke) because that’s how much we both loved it. After FlashforwardFail, this has restored my faith in this new season!

Thea’s Favorites – I’ve got two weeks to catch up on, so here goes…

Dexter

Deb’s heartbreaking loss and her scene was just…wow. I agree with Ana – Jennifer Carpenter is really awesome this season, and I think she deserves an award nod. That parking lot scene…just WOW. That said, I’m fed up with Quinn and I love how his journalist girlfriend is TOPLESS IN EVERY SCENE. How do you cast that? “Looking for hot chick who will be topless in every scene – prudes need not apply!” Heh. To be fair, she has some nice knockers.

John Lithgow and the revelation that he’s JUST.LIKE.DEXTER is awesome. He’s terrifying, and I’m enjoying learning more about what makes Trinity tick – why he kills. The scene with his wife in the bathtub….eeeeew! Creepy! I like that Dexter is trying to pick up tips from him, as wrong as it is. And is it wrong that I hate Darla – I mean Rita – so much? She’s getting annoying…but then I stop and think about it, and she’s just (finally) picking up on the fact that Dexter is not the standup guy he pretends to be. I wonder if she’ll ever learn about Dex’s “Dark Passenger”? Will she accept him? Interesting…

V

Holy smokes, I LOVED THIS PILOT! It had everything I could have wanted – great acting, solid plot setup, awesome special effects, promise for a season full of goodness. Why didn’t ABC pick this as their “LOST replacement” show? It’s certainly lightyears better than that gawdawful mess that is Flashforward! Also I should note that I haven’t seen the ’80s show, so I have no frame of reference for the pilot. But what I’ve seen, I’ve really, really liked. A list of the coolness that is the new V:

• Morena Baccarine (aka Inara) as “Anna” – she’s terrifying and so fitting. I’m not a huge fan of the hair, but it suits the character perfectly. She looks alien. And I love how she does that weird blinking thing that makes her look like a reptile in human skin.
• The fact that V pokes fun at its own recycled source material – “It’s like Independence Day –” “Which was a ripoff of any number of science fiction predecessors!” Yeeaaaaaah SF geeks, FTW!
• Seeing Morena Baccarine and Alan Tudyk in the same show again! Awwww. Even though they are completely different characters.



• My sweet, sweet Elizabeth “Juliet” Mitchell. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before, but I have the HUGEST girl-crush on the lovely Elizabeth Mitchell – probably the biggest girl crush I’ve had since I fell in love with Dana Scully back in fifth grade. Her role here as Erica is smart, beautiful and – naturally – badass as a mom and an FBI agent. Me likey.
• The special effects – the CG was amazingly solid. Color me impressed!



• Scott Wolf doesn’t even bother me – and is it just me, or does he look more and more like Michael J. Fox as he gets older? Also, I love that his name is “Chad Decker.” That’s almost as cool as “Cole Trickle.”
• The awesome plotseed of Erica and her teenage son, the tension that is building as he’s falling under the V’s spell



• The underlying theme that the Vs are responsible for our world turmoil; the idea that there are V sleeper cells; the reptile skin under the human flesh



• Morris Chestnut – I love him as an actor, and I love that he’s going more mainstream in this tv show. AND I love the twist that he’s a V with a conscience! Oooo, how exciting!

Modern Family

This is probably the funniest show to premiere this season. I LOVED the race between the Happy Gilmore chick and Steve from Dawn of the Dead last week, and this week’s fencing match was hilarious. Manny really tore that little asian girl apart *facepalm*

Community

The Halloween episode was HILARIOUS. I think it’s the first time I’ve really laughed my ass off while watching this show! Pierce’s tripping out, his desk fort…and Abed’s ridiculously spot on Bale-Batman voice. I loved it. LOVED IT. This week’s episode isn’t nearly as winning, but still fun.

The Office

Three words: Male Prima Donna.

The music video rules (as does the Subtle Sexuality website). I love Erin sooooo much. Also, this week’s episode with Michael dumping Pam’s mom on her b-day, and then Pam’s slap….just, wow. Awesome.

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia

KITTEN MITTENS! FINALLY! I have been laughing my ass off at these Charlie promos since they first aired, and finally, the Kitten Mittens episode is in the flesh. I mean, just look:

And I love any time that Charlie gets to use his Lawyerman Persona. He says the most random, ridiculous shit, and it’s amazing.

Also, last week’s episode with “Desert Rose,” the poking fun at Mickey Rourke’s The Wrestler, and OF COURSE, The Birds of War song…I have no words. Just watch.

AND that’s it from us this week! What have you been watching?

Disclaimer: Halloween is totally a Thea thing when she hijacks the blog and makes me watch and read all sorts of stuff that are way outside my comfort zone (I am SO NOT a horror/Halloween fan). Last year, it was The Evil Dead movies, which, wouldn’t you know, I ended up loving. This year, I was given another list of movies that I had to watch, one for ach day of the week. Ana’s Halloween Marathon is now an official part of our annual Halloween celebration. Let the torture fun begins! Also: there will be spoilers!

Ana’s Halloween TV/Movie Marathon: Day 3 – Alien/Aliens

Why These movies: Today is Sci-fi Horror day in our Halloween Week special and when Thea found out that I had never watched any of the Alien movies franchise, she added it to my Halloween Marathon list.

Trivia: I consider myself a movie buff. At the age of 12 when my parents first bought a VCR, I discovered this world of movies available to me at the video store. I went completely mental and started to rent all sorts of movies but gravitated towards old black and white Hollywood movies, the Epics, the French, comedies and dramas and completely avoided Horror and Scifi (unless there is “Star” in its title). To this date, I have yet to watch Blade Runner, something that I need to remedy and soon.

The Viewing Party:

I honestly can’t believe it took me this long to watch these movies. I know how important they are (Alien is in the AFI top 100 best science fiction movies) and how much they figure in the cultural background of our times: there are toys, games, video games, novels and several movies. Every time there is a television especial about “best movie moments”, “best 80s movies” and “best movie hero/heroine”, it is a sure thing that at least one of the Alien movies will figure in that. Heck, even though I never watched the movies before now, I knew quite a lot about them from hearsay and from those specials. I knew who Ripley is, what the Alien looks like and what is a “John Hurt Moment”. I also knew how much Thea loves them.

So, under the weight of those heavy expectations I bought the first two movies and started to watch them. And I can honestly say that I totally get it how this has such a lasting effect. I will not do my usual viewing marathon thing in which I write as I go along, mostly because I tried to do that and the notes I have consist of:

“aaaaaaaaaa”
“oh noes”
“no, John Hurt, don’t do that”
“listen to Ripley”
“listen to Ripley”
“OMG Ash NEEDS TO DIE”
“what a moron”
“no, you idiot”
“OMG!!!!!”
“gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah”
“Listen to Ripley you idiots!”
“I love Ripley!”
“Ripley forever!!!”

And

“I can’t believe it!”

And also

“Ripley rules!”

Not very helpful. So instead, I will just list the reasons why I loved the movies.

1) The special effects.

Colour me completely surprised. Since the first movie is from 1979 and the second one from1986, I was expecting them to be dated and well, lame. No such thing. I actually turned to Dear Partner and said: sometimes, I hate GCI. Why can’t more movies be like these ones? The spaceships look real enough, I love all light effects (like inside the computer room).and above all the creature, Alien itself is a thing of beauty: the epitome of what “alien” truly means ie “different”.

2) The story and how it unfolds.

From the opening sequence of Alien when the commercial spaceship’s lights turn on, the crew awakening to find out that they are not on their way home as they expected and instead are responding to a (presumed) SOS signal. It is a slow set-up in which things fall into place little by little. There is the requisite look at the daily life of the crew, the introduction to the characters (and a chance to see who is the one with the Level-head, the one that is careless, the one that is a moron, the one that is a hero and so on and so forth) and to the spaceship layout (one word: BIG. In other words: a lot of room for an Alien to HIDE); I just loved this slow progress into the story and its sense of impending doom. Like, when John Hurt slips when he is investigating the eggs inside the derelict alien ship they found and then decides it is a clever thing to poke the eggs. OF COURSE, something bad happens there. But never mind, because Ripley, the main character played by the awesome Sigourney Weaver KNOWS that they should put John Hurt in quarantine but do they listen to her? NOOOO.

Of course, things escalate to a point of no return as the tension and the horror build up and build up as the ONE Alien wipes out every single character. I guess it should come as no surprise that only one person survives. It did astonish me though and it was a HUGE A-ha! Moment when I realised that everything was on purpose: the trip, the capturing of the Alien and that Ash, aka the character I hated the most was actually an android. This is brilliant storytelling right there.

And then Aliens, beings and it is even more dramatic. I did not expect to find out that Ripley had been sleeping for 57 years and woke up to the fact that her daughter died a mere two years before. The drama, even though this is a sci-fi horror , it is very , very human. As human as it can, as Ripley suffers from horrible nightmares and decides to confront her fears by going back to that godforsaken planet. There, she finds a lost girl, the only survivors of a colony that is being used as incubators for the horrible Aliens and in the girl, Newt, the possibility of being there for her when she could not be there for her own daughter. The maternal instinct is I think, what drives both Ripley and the Queen Alien and the showdown between the two of them in the end, both female , both kick ass, is the stuff that great movies are made of.

3) The fact that we, as a race, are utter morons

I keep saying this to Thea but it bears repeating. Most Horror movies would not be possible if it wasn’t for the idiot character that pissed off the alien/ghost/demon or awaken the Evil Force or went traipsing in the abandoned/derelict/isolated building/house/cemetery/wood.

In both Alien and Aliens s a lot of things could have been avoided if people would only listen to Ripley, aka the Voice of Reason. If protocol had been followed, if precautions have been taken. In Aliens it is even worse as these people set out to a possibly alien-infested world with only a handful of marines and a limited amount of ammunition. Come on now.

The fact that these two movies manage to engage despite these obvious contrivances (especially in movie two. Movie one has a perfectly reasonable excuse in the A-HA moment)

4) The horror!

Oh yes. How positively horrific these movies are. Of the pulsating, increasingly gross variety, the kind that grabs one by the throat as one watches one by one, the characters being taken, chased like rabbits by a violent, horrible, threatening, motherfreaking ugly, nearly indestructible, unstoppable predator.

But the scenes that are the most horrific to me, were these ones: when we still didn’t know what the frak was happening, what the creatures were: this one at the beginning of Alien when John Hurt’s helmet was removed to reveal this the Facehugger:

And then the infamous John Hurt Moment , when the Chestburster er, burst out of his chest:

I think though that above all, the most terrifying thing that happened in the movie did not happen because of the Alien. It came with the utterly frustrating and outrageous realisation that this is all because some ambitious plan from a faceless The Company. It came when Ripley read that computer message that says that all crew was expendable, as long as one of the creatures was taken alive. Oh, the humanity.

5) Ripley

Dudes, words can not describe how much I love this character. How much I love that she, SHE alone saves herself and in Aliens saves three other people (ok two people and a robot) AND kills the Queen Alien. How ,in the face of adversity, she keeps her cool, how she is capable of making all the hard decisions when the other moronic male characters are frozen by their fear. She’s got pretty cool lines and pretty cool weapons. Plus the awesome kick-assness that makes her being the one carrying people to their safety, going back to save the child when there is almost no chance of survival because it is the right thing to do. This is a character that deserves respect and admiration and she gets both from me.

Get away from her, you bitch!

These are my reasons for loving Alien and Aliens – what about you? Like? Dislike?

Disclaimer: Halloween is totally a Thea thing when she hijacks the blog and makes me watch and read all sorts of stuff that are way outside my comfort zone (I am SO NOT a horror/Halloween fan). Last year, it was The Evil Dead movies, which, wouldn’t you know, I ended up loving. This year, I was given another list of movies that I had to watch, one for ach day of the week. Ana’s Halloween Marathon is now an official part of our annual Halloween celebration. Let the torture fun begins! Also: there will be spoilers!

Ana’s Halloween TV/Movie Marathon: Day 2 – Land of the Dead / Dawn of the Dead 2004

Why These movies: Thea is a major zombie fan and has managed to infect me with a certain enthusiasm for the critters. During our Zombie Appreciation Week earlier this year, I watched zombie movies: Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead and Night of the Living Dead – the Remake and I loved them. Especially the first one. Now, for our Halloween Week II, we decided I should watch 2 more zombie movies…

The viewing Party: This time I am psychologically prepared for the Zombie marathon. I also have zero comestibles (I learnt the hard way not to eat whilst watching zombie movies. Don’t ask) but I do have some beer. I start in chronological order, with Romero’s Land of the Dead.

It has been a while since the zombie-apocalypse , the world is infested with them and humans seem to have settled in the new world order. At least they seem better equipped to fight back. There are teams that use fireworks to distract the zombies whilst they go around scavenging for supplies. One leader is Riley (It’s Simon Baker, The Mentalist! Oh hello baby!) and he seems to have a beef with another team leader, Cholo (John Leguizamo). Devastation is everywhere – towns are empty of humans, taken over by zombies. Oh.

Oh. OOOOOOOOOOOOH. These zombies. They are different. They seem to TRY, purposely TRY to be human? Are they trying to communicate? Wait a minute. There is this big black zombie person….he finds a gun and he picks it up! Oh this does not bode well.

Meanwhile, the American Dream lives on in Fiddler’s Green where the rich and powerful have found heaven on earth whilst the rest of the populace lives on quite poorly. I am not quite sure where this is (I googled. It is Pittsburgh) but the city is well protected – bordered by a river on three of its side and by a fence that keeps away the zombies. The camera goes around and we see that humans are using the zombies for fun: there is some sort of amusement park where they can shoot the zombies, or they have zombie cage fights. In one of these cage fights, Simon Baker’s Love Interest is trapped with two zombies and he saves her. But Oh, the humanity. The poor , poor zombies. THEY ARE PEOPLE TOO.

Oh-oh. Big Daddy zombie , he is intelligent. He is like a leader and he is taking the zombies towards the city! I swear it is like watching The Evolution of the Zombie, live. They use tools now , you know?
Meanwhile Simon Baker is out to get John Leguizamo who has gone rogue. By the way, just how old is John Leguizamo?

I have been watching movies with the dude for aaaaaaaaaaaaaages and he looks exactly the same! *googles* He was like 40 when he did this movie. Doesn’t look like it. Anyways, I digress.
There is a horrible sense of desolation in this movie when Simon Baker and his Love Interest go outside the city to find Cholo who decides to run and DOOM! He is bitten! I am not sure what to think as he is not the bestest of people ever but he is also not That Bad.

And then, what an amazing scene: the zombies are crossing the river!

And they invade the city and it is Fiesta de Human Beings. Later Zombie!Cholo! has a face –off with Corporate dude who created Fiddler’s Green and who was trying to flee as the city is overtaken by zombies.
It ends with the zombies leaving……and Simon Baker not killing them and saying: “they are looking for a place to go…same as us. ”

Awesome.

Verdict: Well this movie is quite interesting. Once more I am faced with the fact that I actually don’t fear the zombies as much as I fear the freaking, stupid human beings who are capable of despicable acts. I liked the evolution of the zombie – maybe something between human and something else new? I wonder where else could this be leading to. I didn’t think this one was a gruesome as it could have been which I think I am grateful for. Kudos, Mr Romero.

Next!

Dawn of the Dead is a remake. Of .. Dawn of the Dead. The one where a group of humans barricade themselves inside a shipping mall after the zombie apocalypse starts.It was my least favorite of the previous marathon, but one I still liked. It was the lightest of them all, I think, with a lot of humorous parts. The remake is by Zach Snyder, the guy behind 300 and Watchmen. And I can tell straight away. The opening credits are awesome and remind me a lot of that of Watchmen.

But I am ahead of myself because the opening credits are like ten minutes into the movie, ten minutes that were positively brilliant yet….WRONG, in so many levels.

It begins with a nurse Ana, going back home at the end of her shift, going to bed with her husband, only to wake up to find a zombie girl inside her room. The zombie kills the husband , who immediately becomes a zombie and pursues her. Like….he runs. Really , really fast.

I pause. Wait a minute. These zombies are different! Even more different than the ones from Land of the Dead. They are stronger and faster! Noooooooooooooooo nonononononono. NO. This is wrong. I email Thea to rant. Because wouldn’t you know…it turns out, I am not only a new zombie lover, I also seem to a zombie purist. Zombies are slow, Zach Snyder, SLOW. I am quite incensed by these wanna-be zombies. I am also, quite terrified because, there is no way, NO WAY, we (as in human beings, we) can survive a zombie apocalypse with THESE zombies. NO WAY.

Zombies. RUNNING. The Nerve.

Anyways, I resume watching. Ana, who by the way, doesn’t seem t be grieving her recently deceased husband, runs away and joins a group of people who decide to hide in the mall. Inside there are three security guards who run the show and give them refuge.

There are QUITE a few people here. Including a petty criminal and his VERY pregnant wife and a guy who lives in another building across the parking lot. Then, MORE people arrive in a truck and all of a sudden, there are more characters than I can count or care about. Just to prove my point this one guy is infected and they have to kill him and do I care? NO. There was not enough time for me to care. Instead of the small group of characters like in the previous movies, where we get to learn about them as they live through months inside the mall. Me no likey. Plus hello Ana and this other dude, whom I really like by the way, start to develop a romance….but didn’t her husband just die????

There is this one scene where they are in the roof and there are loads, shit loads of zombies coming to the mall and they are all like, why? Why are they coming here? One of the characters say: “Memory , instinct, coming for us”. Nothing else. He doesn’t say the most important thing! Memory and instinct of WHAT. And with this just like that, they completely fuck this up because this scene should have had social criticism! NO. I don’t like the mindless, zombie for entertainment movie. I don’t like gore and blood for gore and blood. I want something else.

Then, the pregnant lady goes into labour and she has been bitten but her husband has gone mucho loco and keeps her alive and the baby is born and it is a Zombie!Baby! ewww gross! Scary! Wrong! The guy is a total psycho yo! He and the baby are killed, praise the lord. And the others decide to leave the mall and go to a marina and take a boat and honestly? Blah. I lost interest! I mean, the ending has some thrilling sequences with the Super!Fast!Zombies! Then some sacrifices are made and the remaining dudes including Ana (I like Ana, she is kick ass, maybe it’s the name?) …

….sail away only to find themselves in a zombie-infested island with no chance of survival. How could they really? The End. Really.

Verdict: No, I am not a fan of this one. I mean, I am sure there is fun to be had somewhere, the opening was cool, the ending too but it lacked something else. Maybe the humor of the original, definitely the Something More that Romero infused his zombie movies with. Not once did I want to kill the humans because they were stupid, mostly because they were boring. I also admit that these zombies scared the shit out of me. *shudders*

What about you? What do you think of Zombies? Do you like The Traditional Zombie or the New!Fast!Improved ones?

I was looking through my horror dvds the other day, and came to a “d’oh” realization – I have a LOT of John Carpenter. I’m talking, nearly a shelf solely devoted to his films. And there’s a perfectly good reason for that:

John Carpenter ROCKS.

I love his camera work, his special effects, his at times cheeseball scripts. I love his catchy, repetitive, heavily synthesized musical scores.

Today, I share with you my love of John Carpenter, with my favorite movies and moments.

Halloween (1978) and Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)

I posted a bit on Michael Myers last year in my Slashers post, and I don’t think I need to say much about this classic gem. Halloween, the low budget and yet shockingly effective film that started them all is iconic. I love the opening of this film, as the camera shows a first person perspective of a murder…only to reveal the man behind the mask is an innocent, angelic looking boy named Michael. And a monster is born:

Less appreciated, however, is Halloween III: Season of the Witch. Despite its title and its place as the third “Halloween” film, it is not about Michael Myers at all. Instead, Halloween III follows The Silver Shamrock company’s maniacal plan to liquify human brains by turning them into bugs by virtue of their very popular halloween masks and a really creepy commercial. This film gets a lot of crap, but I’m not sure why. You’ve got a druid stone, centipede-brains, androids, a catchy theme song…what’s not to love? This remains one of my favorite Carpenter films.

The Thing (1982)

Carpenter’s remake of the 1951 original, his version of The Thing is – I’m going to go out and say it – one of if not the finest Science Fiction Horror films EVER. Period. This marks another collaboration between Kurt Russell and John Carpenter (an awesome director-actor team if I’ve ever seen one), and he does a brilliant job as R.J. MacReady. Just look at that sweet beard and mane of hair. Seriously, this story about trapped scientists in Antarctica, terrorized by a shapechanging alien is classic. John Carpenter’s sticky, slithery version of special effects rule. Not to mention, the score for the film was composed by the one and only Ennio Morricone. And here’s one of my favorite scenes.

The Fog (1980)

The original, before that teen movie remake crap came out a few years ago. The Fog is, well, about fog. Not just any fog though – it’s a strange mist that brings with it a legion of zombie-like murderous monsters in its wake. It’s a ghostly revenge story, and best of all, it’s a true Sailor’s Story. We don’t have enough of those these days.

Christine (1983)

Be still, my heart! John Carpenter takes on Stephen King with Christine, the story about a jealous, possessive car that claims a stake on her owner, Arnie. Sweet car, sweet soundtrack – it’s the perfect obsessive love story gone awry. Just check out what happens to poor Moochie.

Prince of Darkness (1987)

Probably the flat-out weirdest of Carpenter’s movies, I actually really love this surreal, sci-fi infused horror story about the coming apocalypse. There’s talk of tachyons and particle physics, as well as the antichrist, creepy zombie/possessed people, Alice Cooper as a homeless dude, and a green canister that makes you think of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (or maybe that’s just me). Plus, Victor Wong is in it. TALKING PHYSICS. Win.

They Live (1988)

So the premise sounds pretty strange – a dude finds some sunglasses, and through them he can see that aliens have taken over the planet and forced us to submit to them (as they herd us sheep). And we humans are completely unconscious to this fact. This is a highly underrated cult classic film – satirical and horrific.

In the Mouth of Madness (1994)

This film rounds out Carpenter’s “Apocalypse” series (along with Prince of Darkness and The Thing). In the Mouth of Madness stars Sam Neill as a private investigator who is contracted by a publisher to find the whereabouts of popular horror novelist Sutter Cane. As he goes to Cane’s hometown to find the author, he stumbles instead into a nightmare of Cane’s creation. Cane needs Trent (Neill’s character) for a job – to bring his final manuscript to the world…thereby unleashing the monstrosities of another dimension on the planet. You know, Lovecraft style.

(I used to think Harry Potter would have the same effect on the planet, and I resisted reading the books for a while when I was younger. I have no idea, I’m weird. And yes, I’ve since read and loved Harry Potter, and I have yet to bleed from the eyes or drive an axe into anyone’s head)

Village of the Damned (1995)

Another remake by Carpenter, and this one stars the late Christopher Reeve. One day, everyone in a small town passes out – and women all over the town wake up…pregnant. They give birth to strange babies with white hair and glowing eyes, who grow up able to read minds and make people do terrible things. Devil children, in other words. In penny loafers.

And that’s my list of Carpenter horror faves! Of course, there’s also Escape from New York (1981) and Big Trouble in Little China (1986) that have made it on my dvd shelf too – but those don’t really fit in Halloween Week.

How about you folks? Any Carpenter faves/scenes/moments you’d like to share?

Disclaimer: Halloween is totally a Thea thing when she hijacks the blog and makes me watch and read all sorts of stuff that are way outside my comfort zone (I am SO NOT a horror/Halloween fan). Last year, it was The Evil Dead movies, which, wouldn’t you know, I ended up loving. This year, I was given another list of movies that I had to watch, one of each day of the week. Ana’s Halloween Marathon is now an official part of our annual Halloween celebration. Let the torture fun begins! Also: there will be spoilers!

Ana’s Halloween TV/Movie Marathon: Day 1 – The Twilight Zone

Why The Twilight Zone: It is one of Thea’s fave shows of all time and one that I NEVER watched. And given how the show is commemorating its 50th anniversary this year, we thought it would only be fitting that I watched it now. Thea came up with a list of Must See episodes and here we are.

Trivia: I told Thea that one of the reasons why I never watched the show is because I grew up in Brazil and it was never on TV. Turns out, I was wrong. As soon as I watched the first episode for this marathon, I recognised the opening song and realised that the show was on in Brazil. But it was called “Além da Imaginação” which literally translates as “Beyond the Imagination”.

Yeah, seriously. I can reveal now that the REAL reason why I never watched it is : the intro scared the bejesus out of me and I recall that I always left the room whenever the show was on.

The viewing Party: it was with a bit of trepidation that I started my viewing party. I was expecting to be scared to death or worse, bored to death. Bored to death because well, in my mind, a TV show from the 50’s? Really? How good could it possibly be?
So, I got a bag of chocolate covered raisins and with those expectations and very half-heartedly I lined up the episodes on Youtube/ Veoh and started watching them. And OMG, the intro, which once scared me, now is actually proves to be so cool! I love it!!!

“There is a fifth dimension, beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man’s fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone.”

1. Nightmare at 20,000ft

This episode is the one with William Shatner and The Freaking Face in the Window. You know, the one where William Shatner plays a guy who had a nervous breakdown six years ago. Now, he is flying home with his wife, sitting comfortably on the plane when all of a sudden he looks outside the window and there is something out there in the wing! Oh, my freaking god! Every time he looks outside the weird ape-like creature is crawling towards the engine thingy but every time he tells someone about it , the creature is out of sight and everybody starts thinking that he is mucho loco and then he closes the curtains and I know, I KNOW , something is going to happen and I sort of cover my eyes and then he opens the curtain and the CREATURE IS RIGHT THERE and I scream like there is no tomorrow and Dear Partner comes running into the room and tells me he thinks he is having a heart attack. Oopsie daisies.

Anyways, the story escalates to a point where Shatner wants to open the freaking window to go after the creature himself and he steals a weapon (wow, no one can say that he is not spry) ! Holy guacamoles, he OPENS THE WINDOW. How is the pressure not sucking everybody out of the plane? Huuum….. anyways. He stops the creature but he is taken out of the plane in a straightjacket. But wait! There is evidence that the creature DID exist.

And I loved Rod Serling’s opening words: “

Tonight, he’s traveling all the way to his appointed destination, which, contrary to Mr. Wilson’s plan, happens to be in the darkest corner of the Twilight Zone.”

DUM DUM DUM.

This is so quirky, I mean, does he always interrupt the story to narrate it? (I think he does, right? This is the Twilight Zone “thing” isn’t it? I know, I am like 50 years late to this party) but yeah I so loved it! And, oh, William Shatner how much you amuse me.

Next!

2 – Eye of the Beholder

This episode is the one with the woman at the hospital (but not just any hospital, it is a hospital in the Twilight Zone muwahahahaha) with her face covered in bandages. Apparently she is disfigured or something and just had a procedure.

The doctors are all over her, they have been trying to fix what is wrong with her for ages. This is the 11th procedure and if it doesn’t work…well, she might need to live outside this society. The camera work is pretty cool on this one and I love that we only get to hear their voices . The female protagonist’s is quite soothing as she goes on and on about her face and what will happen next, full of hope that she will lead a normal life now. I am growing increasingly agitated though because I realise that I have not seen the doctor’s or the nurses’ faces. She is described as not being “normal” and I am pretty sure the “normal” here does not mean what I think it means. And I was right, they remove the bandages to reveal a VERY beautiful woman but the doctors and nurses are HORRIFIED because IT DIDN’T WORK and right there, I close my eyes because I know something is gonna happen and holy moses, the people , they are all disfigured! EW. And they need to take her away to a ghetto for freaks like her, because in this society (with a Hitler-like leader, it seems) , everybody must look the same. Poor girl. awwww

I also loved the closing narration:

” Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, in this year or a hundred years hence, on this planet or wherever there is human life, perhaps out amongst the stars. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. A lesson to be learned— in The Twilight Zone.”

Woot!

3 – Time Enough at Last

This the one with the bloke who works at the bank and he is constantly talking about books and reading (oh, I can SO relate) ; He has a hard time at home because his wife does not like him to read (the biotch) and then his boss calls him to his office and tells him that he is a READER (OMG I am one too!) and that his wife is so right to be like that because he is wasting time. The poor guy goes home and his wife (the biotch) has written all over his poetry book and and and SHE RIPS IT APART. Oh the nerve. Then one day he hides in the bank’s vault to read and whilst he is there a bomb destroys the entire world and he walks away and he is the only one alive. I am all like mumbling to myself “yeah, right, so there is no sign of radiation or anything”. Dear Partner who happens to be standing right behind me says “It’s The Twilight Zone, luv” . I give him The Look. WhatEVER.

Anyways, the guy is now aaaaaaaall alone and he despairs. Solitude! Boredom! Hunger! All looms in the horizon and he finds a gun and is about to shot himself and then he sees the sign for the public library! And OMG he has all the books in the world now at his disposal. He makes piles for every month for the rest of his years and oh noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooes. His glasses! He broke his glasses!!!!!!! OH MY GOD, this is so twisted! Bad Twilight Zone! BAD!
I loved this episode!

Closing Narration:

“The best laid plans of mice and men and Henry Bemis, the small man in the glasses who wanted nothing but time. Henry Bemis, now just a part of a smashed landscape, just a piece of the rubble, just a fragment of what man has deeded to himself. Mr. Henry Bemis…in the Twilight Zone.”

4. The Hitchhiker

This is the one with the young woman driving cross-country and as she drives she keeps seeing the same hitch-hiker, a strange man, who appears at Every.Single.Stop along the way.

I am completely TERRIFIED of this episode. This is the one that is scaring me the most so far. The tension increases as the woman drives away, running from him…talking to herself inside the car. It is rather claustrophobic and then she stops to call home and is told that OMG SHE IS DEAD. SHE IS DEEEEEEEEEEEEEAD. How did I not see this coming? She is dead and the guy is Death! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa *thud*

Closing Narration:

“Nan Adams, age twenty-seven. She was driving to California, to Los Angeles. She didn’t make it. There was a detour, through the Twilight Zone. “

5 – Five Characters in Search of an Exit

This is one of Thea’s top favourites and the last one I watched. Five people inside what seems to be a cylinder-like place? A major of the army, a ballerina, a homeless guy, a bagpiper and a clown.

They don’t know who they are or where they are. The major is quite determined to find out.

The Ballerina is telling him ““we are in the darkness, nameless things with no memory – no knowledge of what went before, no understanding of what is now, no knowledge of what will be” and I am thinking: are they characters from a book? I am sure they are not alive, this is going to be the twist right? Each of them believes they are in a different place: a spaceship or hell. They are quite desperate: we must have names! I am all like, OMG the angst! WHAT IS HAPPENING TO THESE POOR PEOPLE. I have to say, the acting is quite good and the directing conveys such a sense of entrapment….they come up with a plan , by forming a tower of people and the major manages to go up but once he gets there he falls to the outside. The Ballerina is all like: come back for us! And I am like awwww and then the story is all like ZOMFG, they are DOLLS! They are dolls! Inside a box to be sold! Aaaaaaaaaa, nooooooooooo awwww. Someone returns the major and then and then the Ballerina doll holds his hands and cries.

The Closing Narration made me cry:

“Just a barrel, a dark depository where are kept the counterfeit, make-believe pieces of plaster and cloth, wrought in the distorted image of human life. But this added, hopeful note: perhaps they are unloved only for the moment. In the arms of children, there can be nothing but love. A clown, a tramp, a bagpipe player, a ballet dancer, and a major. Tonight’s cast of players on the odd stage known as the Twilight Zone.”

This was definitely my favourite! Love the twist! And how sad it was.

Verdict: I loved all the episodes I watched. I was VERY surprised about the quality of the episodes, how some of them were even rather arty. Of course, the black and white photography really helps. I was also taken by surprise at how (at least the episodes I watched)they were not really THAT scary and were much more about psychological horror by showing the way these weird happenings affected the people involved in them more than anything else. I think Thea chose a good mixture of episodes for me to watch varying from sci-fi to horror and to Fantasy. And how I love Rod Serling’s narration!

I will definitely go back for seconds and I can totally understand how this is still in syndication after all these years.

So, this is my experience watching The Twilight Zone. Are you a fan of the show? What are your favourite episodes? Do share!