Vamptastic...
xray_spex and I started catching up on True Blood, the HBO show. Its pretty damned weird, but also fairly well written. I'm enjoying it, I think lower middle class southern culture and vampires makes for some really interesting potential, and much of that is being exploited quickly and smartly.
I love seeing which rules are used/ignored in vampire series'. Do you turn after being bitten and not killed (werewolf style), bitten and killed (Buffy style), drained and fed (Anne Rice style), unholy event (Dracula style)... that sort of thing... I love the classic "woke-up-sweaty-and-enthralled-only-to-see-a-shadow-of-him" scene, and I am always to see it played out in different ways.
The credit sequence, including the Jace Everett theme "Bad Things" stages the series in all its grotesque beauty brilliantly.
Granted there are always issues:
Also... the kitten and I had our SECOND date night in recent history, and the first of what we hope to be REGULARLY SCHEDULED events OUTSIDE of our house WITHOUT our children (which is beyond awesome all by itself)...
I'm almost ashamed to say, we went and saw Twilight, the most teenage girl oriented vampire movie in the history of such things... and it was actually pretty awesome. The special effects were either fairly well done (stunts and such) or abysmal (CG effects [no matter how fast you jump UP, you come DOWN at the same speed, retards]), but the story was the driving factor, and the overall vibe was really pretty solid, good characters and subtlety...
Subtlety. I get upset with media and culture because there is SO LITTLE of that. Not the same as OBSCURITY mind, and most writers and directors who think they're subtle are really just obfuscating things. An obvious truth behind a veil is still an obvious truth.
Subtlety that involves narration is something I would have said couldn't happen, but as a fan of narration (which is admittedly rare in a film fan).
I think subtlety was was the reason I liked this so much overall, some characters (like the dad) say almost nothing through the film but manage to be HUGE characters just in the setup and acting.
'course, I'm just an emo/goth kid* with a soft spot for vampire flicks, so I could be a COMPLETELY poor barometer for its overall worth.
Zod has Spoken!
*Also, I'm old enough to pre-date both of those classifications and was therefore just one of the "weird kids" when I was in school.
I love seeing which rules are used/ignored in vampire series'. Do you turn after being bitten and not killed (werewolf style), bitten and killed (Buffy style), drained and fed (Anne Rice style), unholy event (Dracula style)... that sort of thing... I love the classic "woke-up-sweaty-and-enthralled-only-to-see-a-shadow-of-him" scene, and I am always to see it played out in different ways.
The credit sequence, including the Jace Everett theme "Bad Things" stages the series in all its grotesque beauty brilliantly.
Granted there are always issues:
- I can't tell if they are going somewhere with Sam, or they are just fucking with us. I'm at the point (episode 6) where if they are fucking with us, they need to stop, because if I get to the end of these season and get a "Hah Hah, jokes on you!" I'm going to find the whole thing obnoxious, and it could screw the show up for me (I take mylycanthropy seriously, and don't like being jerked around).
- I despise eyetooth fangs. Logistically the make sense for "sucking fang" vampires... but no one really writes those, do they. The modern vampire is more akin to the vampire bat; Rip open a vein, and feed. For that, Canine fangs are much more reasonable, and biologically supportable.
- I'm also not fond of switchblade fangs. Permanently out, or subtle (or unseen) extension... switchblade fangs are just campy and lame.
Also... the kitten and I had our SECOND date night in recent history, and the first of what we hope to be REGULARLY SCHEDULED events OUTSIDE of our house WITHOUT our children (which is beyond awesome all by itself)...
I'm almost ashamed to say, we went and saw Twilight, the most teenage girl oriented vampire movie in the history of such things... and it was actually pretty awesome. The special effects were either fairly well done (stunts and such) or abysmal (CG effects [no matter how fast you jump UP, you come DOWN at the same speed, retards]), but the story was the driving factor, and the overall vibe was really pretty solid, good characters and subtlety...
Subtlety. I get upset with media and culture because there is SO LITTLE of that. Not the same as OBSCURITY mind, and most writers and directors who think they're subtle are really just obfuscating things. An obvious truth behind a veil is still an obvious truth.
Subtlety that involves narration is something I would have said couldn't happen, but as a fan of narration (which is admittedly rare in a film fan).
I think subtlety was was the reason I liked this so much overall, some characters (like the dad) say almost nothing through the film but manage to be HUGE characters just in the setup and acting.
'course, I'm just an emo/goth kid* with a soft spot for vampire flicks, so I could be a COMPLETELY poor barometer for its overall worth.
Zod has Spoken!
*Also, I'm old enough to pre-date both of those classifications and was therefore just one of the "weird kids" when I was in school.