Three Books That I Read After Seeing The Movie

*There Will Be Spoilers*

1. The Movie:  Let The Right One In (2008) Kare Jedebrant, Lina Leandersson, Per Ragnar

                   Let Me In (2010) Kodi Smit-McPhee, Chloe Grace Moretz, Richard Jenkins, Elias Koteas

The Book:  Let The Right One In (2004) John Ajvide Lindquist

How do they compare?  Pretty damn well, in particular the original, Swedish movie. The book gives us more of Eli's history, as well as the POV of an older high school boy named Tommy who is Oskar's neighbor, and who is actually nice to him and occasionally offers his protection. Also in the book, Oskar starts off with some pretty bad bladder control issues. It's stated outright that Eli's "guardian," Hakan, is a pedophile, and near the end there is a showdown between Eli and Hakan in the basement of the apartment building. The book also delves deeper into the lives of Lacke, Virginia and some of the others, which was pretty tedious/depressing at times, because these were not happy people. These characters were replaced with a policeman character in the American Let Me In.

How do the movies compare to each other?  In my opinion, the original Let The Right One In is the clear winner between the two, even though I can honestly say that I do enjoy watching Let Me In, as well. Lina Leandersson is phenomenal as the androgynous castrato, Eli,  but I prefer Kodi Smit-McPhee's take as Owen, because he didn't have snot dripping from his nose for the entire movie like this kid:

Seriously, there was so much snot....

  Also in the remake was Elias Koteas with horrible hair:

  I love when Elias Koteas pops up in movies. I've loved him ever since he played "Duncan" in Some Kind of Wonderful. And I didn't really miss the angry, drunk Lacke/Virginia/Gosta group that he replaced (Virginia is the woman attacked by Eli/Abby who later burns alive in her hospital bed-)

Book or Movie? Either. I really loved the book, I loved the Swedish movie, and really liked the American version. I do prefer the subtitles of the Swedish version more than their dubbed English, but I tend to pick the American version if I am in and out of the room, so that I can at least hear what's going on.

2. The Movie:  Single White Female (1992) Bridget Fonda, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Steven Weber

The Book:  SWF Seeks Same (1990) John Lutz

How do they compare?  Pretty good. The one thing that really sticks out for me (it's been years since I read the book, and I do not own it) is that in the book, Hedy is no broken doll traumatized by the death of her twin sister. She's a hard-core con artist who first insinuates herself into and then takes over people's lives for awhile, and this time she has chosen Allie. Allie ends up jailed for Hedy's crimes in the book, but with the help of a smart detective, things are finally wrapped up in the end.

Book or Movie? Movie. This is one of many movies that I can toss on at any random time and enjoy it. I love Jennifer Jason Leigh, Bridget Fonda is pretty good, Stephen Tobolowsky is great as the sleazy boss, and we have a fantastic basement chase scene, to boot.

3. The Movie: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2009) Noomi Rapace, Michael Nyqvist, Peter Haber, Peter Andersson

                         The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2011) Rooney Mara, Daniel Craig, Stellan Skarsgard, Yorick Van Wageningen

The Book:  The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2005) Steig Larsson

How do they compare?  Very well. Lisbeth came across as more insecure in the book, but aside from that I thought it was a pretty fair representation. While I have watched the entire Swedish movie, I just did not enjoy Rooney Mara (Daniel Craig was good, however) and have only seen about half of the American version. I definitely preferred this Lisbeth...

...to this one.

Book or Movie? Movie, but definitely the Swedish version with Noomi Rapace.

Bonus- The Movie: Bad Girls From Valley High (2005) Julie Benz, Nicole Bilderback, Monica Keena, Jonathan Brandis

The Book:  A Fate Totally Worse Than Death (1995) John Fleischman

How do they compare?  So-so. Then general premise is the same, although there were some major and some minor changes (most of the tricks attempted to be played on Helga/Katarina (the book name/movie name of the same girl) are different. Book Brooke is just as bad as the rest of the "Huns," although Movie Brook is shown to actually have a heart. Book Mr. Chauncey is just a perv who likes to look down the blouses of the girls, while Movie Mr. Chauncey is all up in the mix. The one detail in the book that was left out of the movie was of Head Hun/Queen Bitch, Danielle, being a total horror nut. She always had a horror book in hand, or a horror movie on screen, which gave her all manner of ideas on how to torture Helga (as she was named in the book)

Book or Movie? Movie, without a doubt. I toss this movie on at random times when I'm in the mood for something funny, or in the mood to see Christopher Lloyd get his ass kicked throughout a movie, or to see Aaron Paul acting like a hysterical douchebag. Check out Three Things I Liked About Bad Girls Of Valley High!

Three Things I Love About Road House

   It has only been in the past few years that my love of Road House has firmly taken root. By chance, I ran across it on cable at Alaska's place (he and I were still in dating mode, at the time) and it was so cheesy, and actiony, and bloody, that I wondered how I had ever thought this movie was anything other than a masterpiece of 80's goodness. So great was my new love of this film that Alaska purchased it for me on Blu-Ray, soon after that. I'm stepping off on a side track for a moment, to simply express my horror at the Blu-Ray cover:

   Poor Patrick Swayze, airbrushed within an inch of his life, and to the point that it doesn't even look like him. Compare the two covers, and tell me there isn't something wrong with that. Anyway, this list has been sitting around in a pile on my desk for awhile now, and I figured (after another recent viewing) that I finally needed to get on this. And away we go with three things that I love about Road House:


  1. The triad of glorious hair:

 We have Dalton's (Patrick Swayze) feathered mullet of perfection:

  Doc's (Kelly Lynch) feathered blonde lion's mane:

  Wade's (Sam Elliot) feathered salt and pepper curls and matching facial scruff:

    2. I found myself torn here between Dalton's gratuitous ass shot:

     And Dalton tearing out a man's throat with his bare hands:

   Both scenes amuse me greatly, although probably not for the same reasons.


   3. It's Oh, So Quotable!

  Everybody: "I thought you'd be bigger."

  Jimmy: "I used to fuck guys like you in prison." (I always laugh at this line, too, because really, Jimmy? I don't think I would brag about that. Nor does it sound very intimidating.)

  Dalton: "Pain don't hurt."

  Dalton: "I'm telling you straight, it's my way or the highway."

  Hank: "He killed a guy once. Ripped his throat right out."

  Doc: "Do you always carry your medical records around with you?"
  Dalton: "Saves time."

  Tinker: "A polar bear fell on me."

  Wesley: "You disgust me, O'Connor. Do you want to know why you disgust me? Because you're a bleeder. You bleed too much. You are a messy bleeder. You're weak. You've got no endurance for pain."


   Bonus: Dalton sews up his own knife wound. As some of you may know, I have a fondness for people sewing up their own wounds. This is a pretty good one, and I am always amused by the back and forth of Dalton and Doc when she compliments his stitches.

 

Three Of My Favourite Moments From Creepshow

  From my first viewing at one of my girlhood slumber parties, I have adored this movie. I suspect that Creepshow is actually a big part of the reason that I have such a love for anthologies. I could have made any number of different lists for this movie, but for today I am going with my three favourite moments. Everyone, of course, loves Ed Harris's crazy disco dancing:

  And who doesn't enjoy Upson Pratt's cockroach comeuppance?

  The following scenes are ones that give me that extra little pop of joy, for reasons that I can't really name. In order of appearance:


  1. Nathan Grantham  twists Sylvia's head completely around, and off, and then decorates it like a birthday cake.

  2. Every time Wilma "Just call me Billie" screeches "Henry!" Poor Hal Holbrook, I would have fed her to the Crate Monster, too.

  3. The final freeze on Richard's (Leslie Nielsen, whom I love) face at the end of "Something To Tide You Over."

   It is the same in the Creepshow book:

  Bonus: Mr. White and Upson Pratt's back-and-forth through the magnifying peephole.

  Head over to the Happy Haunted Sunshine House and check out my signed copy of the Creepshow comic/graphic novel.

Three Awesome YouTube Series

1.  BAMF Girls Club - Comediva

   Have you ever wondered what it would be like if Buffy (the vampire slayer), Katniss (Hunger Games), Hermione (Harry Potter), Michonne (The Walking Dead), Lisbeth (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo) and Bella (Twilight) all lived in one house? No, me neither, but it sure is funny! There are currently 12 episodes, with additional outtakes and behind-the-scenes.

Trailer:

Episode 1:

2. Convos With My 2 Year Old - Convos With My 2-Year-Old

  This man reenacts conversations that he's had with his 2 (and now 3) year old daughter, along with another fully grown man. It's a little creepy at first, but hysterically funny! There are currently 13 episodes, with outtakes and a Q & A with the two men.

Episode 1:

3. Mario Warfare - beatdownboogie

   I have nothing to say other than this is awesome, and Toad is the man. There are currently 4 episodes (between 10-12 minutes each) with extras.

Trailer:

Episode 1:

Bonus: 3 Golden Sisters - 3GoldenSistersTV

   Three senior women talk about all manner of things, and it's funny as hell. They have over 100 episodes, along with outtakes. This was the first video I ever saw from them:

Three Things I Liked About The Convent

  This 2000 movie is pretty much Night of the Demons, only set in an old convent, and with a broad streak of humour, throughout. Featuring a stereotypical group of asshole college kids (complete with the nerdy pledge, and a lone goth girl thrown in for good measure) the delectable Adrienne Barbeau, and Coolio and Bill Moseley as the local law enforcement. This was 80 minutes of bloody good fun.

There will be SPOILERS in regards to some of the greater "gore" moments!

Yeah, I said "spoilers."

  1. Adrienne Barbeau as the foul-mouthed, motorcycle riding, demon battling Christine.

Still smokin' at 55.

  And her sweet stockpile of weapons:

  

Yes, she does have several nun/demon heads

hanging from her belt.

  2. The gore was pretty good, and they definitely weren't shy with the fountains of fake blood. A couple of my favourites:

   ~A Maglite is jammed into a demon's mouth and out the back of her head. This was a laugh-out-loud moment for me.

Something about watching her flail around with this in her mouth

simply slayed me.

   ~The cheerleader gets her face peeled off.

I don't know about you....

....but a good face peel always leaves me feeling a little warm and fuzzy.

   There were shotgun blasts a'plenty, a literal shower of blood, a dick chomp, and some eye trauma, as well. (The dvd extras showed some longer takes from the gore scenes, as well, which was kinda neat)

  3. Dickie Boy and Saul, the "Satanists." I find myself unable to describe how awesomely dorky and hysterical these two were. Every moment they were on screen was a joy. This following clip is Saul's grand entrance, and grand it is. 

Three Things I Love About Trick 'r Treat

   I love everything about the movie Trick 'r Treat. I love this movie so much, and have watched it so often since my discovery of it, that Alaska began using the term "trick 'r treat" to mean "the ability to recite entire chunks of dialogue (if not the entire movie) from memory, due to repeated viewings."  Example: "I can trick 'r treat the hell out of The Monster Squad. I've seen it over 200 times." Since I do love everything about this movie it was a little tough picking out just three things to make a list from, but I managed. And away we go-


  1. Sam.

   Adorable, deadly, and a wonderful icon of Halloween! I embraced Sam with the fervent love that I also give to Jason Voorhees. (Check out my Sam collection over at the Happy Haunted Sunshine House!)



  2. The makers of this movie had a powerful love of practical effects. The CGI in this movie is actually used to enhance, not as a lazy convenience, and I am A-OK with that. Not only does this movie have one of the most realistic severed heads that I have ever seen in a movie:

   But the werewolf transformation scene is one of my favourites of all time. I nearly went into a fit of ecstasy the first time that I saw the women tearing off their skins to reveal the wolf-fur underneath. Not to mention, the wolves themselves were pretty phenomenal.

Enjoy!

  3. All the stuff going on in the background. It's easy enough to note the interlocking scenes, but multiple viewings had me noticing more and more. Some of my favourites are:

~ In the opening scenes with Emma and Henry, we see The Schoolbus Kids leaving Mr. Kreeg's house.

The Schoolbus Kids, far left.

~Some of the other werewolf girls picking up their dates.

L-R: Werewolf girl, werewolf girl, Emma in the coffee shop window.

~Laurie chatting up a soldier in the background as we leave the alleyway with The Man in Black.

The Man in Black, in the background, Laurie

~Mrs. Henderson with "Coach Taylor, in the hotdog costume" at the werewolf party at Sheep's Meadow. You don't see her face, but just look at the costume:

Mrs. Henderson, our "mature" werewolf. This is also where

we see Coach Taylor "buttfucking a pig."

Hard to get a good shot of this, but if you watch the scene you can see, even

without her face, that that is Mrs. Henderson's cat costume. Not to mention that is 

definitely Coach Taylor, whom we saw earlier in the movie.

Bonus: The Blu Ray bonus footage contains some deleted scenes, one of which just cracks me up every time I decide to re-watch it. For starters, the wankers who play the trick on Rhonda are leaving Mrs. Henderson's house, comparing their gains, and Chip pulls this out of his bag:

That's no banana, it's a day-glo yellow vibrator.

A few moments later, Macy and Chip have this exchange, while standing in front of Rhonda's house:

Chip: "Is that Rhonda the retard?"

Macy: "She's not a retard, she's an idiot savant." 

(That is the extent of the conversation that made it into the movie-it originally carried on)

Chip: "What the fuck's the difference?"

Macy: "Retards are as strong as apes."

Chip: "Really?"

Macy: "Tear your arms right off."

  I laugh every time over the "tear your arms right off" bit. It's just such a kid thing to say, and I love it.

  

Three Things I Liked About Bad Girls From Valley High

  Bad Girls From Valley High is a surprisingly funny tale of revenge, with a twist or two. We have rapidly aging teen girls in adult diapers, senior citizen stereotypes, a hot foreign exchange student (who may, or may not, be a ghost) Janet Leigh (!) and a surprising take on the devil (although, really, it makes sense upon reflection) This is currently a watch instantly on Netflix.


  1. Aaron Paul as a spastic dweeb. Hyperactive, annoying, with a crush on head bitch Danielle, and no one aside from Bad Girl #3, Brook, likes him (although borderline brain dead jock Gavin seems to tolerate him)

He looks like he should be hawking computers.

 Alaska is a Breaking Bad fan, so I am used to seeing hardass, rough-around-the-edges, Jesse Pinkman up on the screen. Jonathan "Wart" Wharton is about as far from Jesse as one could get.

  2. Mr. Chauncey (Christopher Lloyd, doing what he does best, which is play Christopher Lloyd on the big screen) gets the crap beaten out of him throughout the movie. A couple of my favourites were:

   ~Being tackled through a dressing room door and then being shit-kicked by the woman

      he walked in on.

   ~Being accidentally closed up in the automatic bleachers by the volleyball coach.

   ~Attacked by a pack of Pomeranians while dressed as a clown.

He looks so much worse later on.

  3. The ending. Everything comes full circle, questions are answered and, as mentioned, we get a glimpse of the devil. And it is awesome.