Happy Halloween!

Today's the big day, folks. October 31st. Halloween. One of the most anticipated days on this young man's calendar.

As per the usual, I don't really have any major Halloween plans lined up right now. I usually play it by ear. Though, like ever year, I do plan on hanging out with my uncle in his driveway and helping him hand out some candy. This has been a personal tradition for me every year for the last decade or so. I've only missed one Halloween, and that was just due to unfortunate college-related commitments that I couldn't get out of. But outside of that, my annual Halloween plans have almost always gone off without a hitch, and it's something I look forward to every year.

Today is also one of those days where horror movies are universally cool for a change. The genre doesn't always get the respect it deserves during the other 364 days out of the year, but everyone is into horror on Halloween. I've long been a fan of the genre, and I'm not shy about it. But there's just something about Halloween that makes horror movies that much more special and that much more fun on this particular day. And if there's one thing I love, it's a good scary movie on Halloween.

On that note, I think I'm going to go watch some scary movies. Before I head off, I want to give a little plug to a project that my buddy Dave is doing. The guy's decided to compile the contents of his pro wrestling DVDs into one large, in-depth database. And I must admit that this little shout-out might be a wee bit on the selfish side, since I had a hand in some of the research. But if you're at all interested, feel free to check it out. And to be totally honest, I might just have to rip the idea off one day.

And that's that. Everybody have a safe and happy Halloween, and hopefully you'll have more treat than trick. Unless you like tricks. And you probably do, you sick freak.

Blood, Guts, And Other Nasty Things

Well, we didn't get around to seeing Silence of the Lambs last night. Instead, we decided to go check out Saw 3. And truthfully, it was an experience unlike any other I've had before. Want to hear about it? Of course you do. That's why you're here.

Myself, Moses, and our Anderson County crew, Jennifer and Tiffany, headed up to see the 9:45 showing of the movie. And not twenty minutes into it, Jennifer decides it's too much for her and leaves, Moses following behind to keep her company. It's the first time I can remember a member of my posse walking out of a movie. And it confuses me, since Jennifer can usually handle a little gore. She's a lover of zombie movies, after all. Besides, the commercials and trailers pretty much come right out and say the movie's going to be a gorefest. A Saw movie without graphic violence is like a Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie without chainsaws or massacres. But to each his or her own, I guess.

So this just left me and Tiffany in the theater, which wasn't so bad until a guy two rows behind us vomited. It wasn't because of the movie, but because he'd had a wee bit too much to drink. I know this because once this little incident happened, the place suddenly smelled like someone had poured a bottle of vodka all over the floor. And this guy just threw up all over the place. If Tiffany and I had been two seats to the left, where Moses and Jennifer were sitting, we'd have probably gotten it all over our shoes. And outside of a few stragglers on the ends of each, the full two rows behind us pretty much cleared out for the remainder of the movie, no joke. From what Tiff and I were told after the movie by a friend of hers that works as an usher, the guy was arrested for public intoxication once he got into the lobby. The usher even said there was a real ruckus in the lobby, and that one upset woman kicked down the manager's door demanding a refund. Throw in the fact that the guy next to me had a kid that looked no older than seven years old with him, and I guess you could claim that the experience was a little bit out there.

But let's talk about Saw 3 for a little while, okay? There's two plotlines going on at the same time:

1. Jeff, played by Angus Macfayden, is a father consumed with hatred for the man who accidentally killed his son and for those who let the killer free with a mere slap on the wrist. He is forced to endure what is essentially an obstacle course comprised of those people he despises most, each stuck in their own lethal traps that Jeff may either solve or neglect.
2. Lynn, played by Bahar Soomekh, is a talented surgeon kidnapped by Jigsaw and his apprentice Amanda with the intention of keeping Jigsaw alive until Jeff finishes his obstacle course. Around her neck is a collar rigged with shotgun shells, which is connected to Jigsaw's heart rate. If Jigsaw flatlines, so does Lynn.

The movie delicately balances both storylines very carefully, but until they converge in the climax, I got the feeling that Storyline #2 was really the main one. I found Jigsaw and Amanda to be the film's most intriguing characters, and they are rightfully given the bulk of the movie's running time. We are taken deeper into their relationship and how their lives have progressed to where they are now. As I said previously, both are quite intriguing, and both are excellently played by Tobin Bell and Shawnee Smith. Bell and Smith's performances make the characters endearing, even if it is in the same sense that Freddy Krueger or Rob Zombie's Firefly clan are.

Though while I thought Jigsaw and Amanda were the movie's main focus, the storyline with Jeff deserves a little mention. The storyline is so heart-wrenching at times, invoking a certain level of emotion not really seen in the prior two movies. It also gives Saw 3 the strongest sense of morality when compared to the other two. It is a tale of forgiveness and compassion, and though it is told with tremendous amounts of carnage, it is still a story that truly emphasizes Jigsaw's philosophy. While I do believe that a little more emphasis is placed upon the other storyline, the movie is strengthened by this one.

The characters, especially our pair of villains, are very deep, very layered. There is always so much going on beneath their surfaces, and neither Jigsaw or Amanda reveal all the cards in their hands until the grand finale. And what a finale it is. Nearly every loose end from the entire trilogy thus far is tied up in the final five minutes of the movie, giving us the full scope of the entire Saw universe. It may seem Shyamalan-esque, but when it's all put together, it makes the entire universe much deeper and rounded.

We don't really know how things will connect or tie together during the movie, but as with the previous two entries in the trilogy, it all comes together nearly seamlessly in the end. And while I've heard rumblings of a Saw 4 coming out next year depending on this one's success, I think Saw 3 could serve as a satisfactory closing chapter for the franchise. The entire trilogy comprises a quite interesting story, though I'll admit that I'm not entirely against a fourth Saw movie either. I guess we'll just have to wait until next Halloween.

Darren Lynn Bosman's direction is sound, James Wan and Leigh Whannell's script and Charlie Clouser's music are well done, and the traps are sick. Oh my, the traps. I don't want to give any of them away, but they are so deliciously painful that the gorehounds will love Saw 3. As I said, the acting is good too, especially the wonderful performances from Bell and Smith. They were both very good in the first two Saw movies, and they're just as excellent here.

So to wrap this thing up, Saw 3 is a respectable entry in a film franchise that has apparently become something of a Halloween tradition. It's violent, gore-drenched, frightening, and via the one storyline, downright sad at times. My official judgment is three and a half stars, leaning towards four, and I give it and the entire Saw franchise my seal of approval.

That's about it for this one. Other than that, the day was dreadfully uneventful. I'm just glad I'm not one of those poor saps who got vomited on by that drunk guy. That's probably why Moses and Jennifer should be glad they left when they did, because they'd have probably gotten caught up in it too.

And that'd be terrible.

The Power of Blog Compels You

As I posted about last week, myself and my crew were aiming to check out a double feature of The Exorcist and The Silence of the Lambs in Frankfort last night. Unfortunately, due to certain job-related circumstances, one member of our crew couldn't make it and another had to work early this morning. So we decided to implement Plan B and catch only the first half of tonight's doubleheader, the extended "director's cut" of The Exorcist, tonight. So let's see how that went, shall we?

I'd seen various bits and pieces of The Exorcist on television in the past, but nothing could have prepared me for just how disturbing the movie is. Really, the movie actually made me want to curl up in a padded room for a few hours. What I thought was especially harrowing was all the little subtle things, like the faint Pazazu idols that creep up in the shadows of some scenes, and the split-second frames of Captain Howdy that were subliminally edited in there like they were Tyler Durden's porn collection. The shots of Captain Howdy particularly frightened me, because they were so quick that I was left with the feeling that while I wasn't a hundred percent sure what I saw, it made me almost pee my pants anyway. And that, folks, was effective.

Everything about the movie is just so disturbing. I normally don't feel like I've been punched in the stomach after leaving most horror movies, but that's how The Exorcist left me feeling. That's the only way I can describe this feeling. There's a reason why The Exorcist has developed a reputation as one of the genre's most enduring classics, and I believe that how I feel now is that reason.

Honestly, not very many movies have left me feeling the next day exactly how I felt after I left the theater. But The Exorcist is one of them. It's one of those movies that, when the credits roll, makes me want to stand up, take a deep breath, and say, "Man, that's messed up." I am simply in awe of just how mind-blowing The Exorcist is. The writing and direction are well done, the acting is spectacular, and most importantly, it's scary. Very, very scary. And it earns high praise with four and a half stars, a definite "Sutton At The Movies" recommendation.

Now that that's out of the way, we still have Silence of the Lambs to see tonight. I've seen it a dozen times, but I'm still excited about seeing it up on the big screen. There's just something about the experience that makes it so much more fun. Now if there were a way I could have made it to the doubleheader of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre prequel and The Descent that the Harrodsburg drive-in was showing this weekend...

Project Progress

I've been meaning to do a new post this week, but hadn't found the time or topic until right now. So come on, let's see where this takes us.

I'm currently working on a new review that I've been wanting to do for a few months now, and I have two more currently lined up once I finish this one. And as much as I want to do the one I'm working on right now, I'm especially looking forward to the next two. I don't want to come out and say what they are, since I like to keep my work secret until their grand unveilings, but I will say that I don't expect the movies to be very good. And to be perfectly honest, if they're just as bad as their reputations let on, I'm going to have a ball ripping them to shreds. Hopefully, they'll be more "angry bad" than "disappointing bad," because "angry bad" reviews are so much more fun to write.

So after I get those two done, I don't really have any other reviews lined up yet. I still need to do Jackie Brown and maybe True Romance, but it's just a matter of sitting down and actually doing them. But they'll have to wait in any event, since I still have these three reviews I have set up. I'm sure I'll get around to them eventually.

And that's enough of this. I'd better get back to my projects. It isn't going to write itself.

Nine More Days 'Till Halloween

I had quite a long night, and boy, am I feeling it today. I could probably go back to sleep and stay there all afternoon. I'm that worn out.

The evening began somewhere in the neighborhood of 7:30, with the usual suspects and I heading up to Jacobson Park in Lexington to go visit a haunted house. Well, it wasn't so much a haunted house as it was a haunted trail, but you get the idea. And I must admit I thought the place was a lot of fun. It wasn't as intensely scary as I'd have expected, but after a lifetime of watching horror movies, I think my senses have been a wee bit dulled. But regardless, the place was great. What was really fun was seeing how scared the other three were. I was bringing up the rear of our foursome, which meant the other three got scared before I did, or everything snuck up on me first.

That leads to a silly story, actually. As I said, I was in the back of the group. At one point, a guy in overalls and a hockey mask sneaks up behind us and followed us for a little bit. I noticed him and called out, "Holy crap, Jason! Hey, it's Jason!" Unfortunately, they didn't pay any attention. The thing is that Moses's first name is Jason, so they all thought I was just trying to get his attention. This is what I get for hanging out with a guy who has the same name as a popular horror villain.

The only really bad part of the whole thing was all the mud. It was like someone had set this thing up at Woodstock. We've been getting plenty of rain lately, which could be part of it. But I also think that they hid strategically placed mud pits in some of the trail's darker spots. I say that because the ground was a lot softer in some places, and I vaguely noticed what looked like a shallow hole someone had dug and filled in with mud. I ended up with mud nearly up to my knees, thanks to those things. I'm just glad I didn't get dressed up for the thing, otherwise I'd be a little more unhappy.

After the haunted trail, we were all feeling a little hungry. It was pretty late when we got out of there, and since we didn't think many restaurants would be open around 10:30 or 11:00, our options were limited. And since the girls didn't want to go to White Castle, we agreed upon Waffle House instead. It was closer than White Castle, it's a 24-hour establishment, and who doesn't like waffles? Anybody who says they don't like Waffle House's waffles is either a fool or a liar. That's some good stuff.

From Waffle House, we moved on to a Wal-Mart that was close by. We didn't have any real reason to be there, we just like hanging out in Wal-Marts. Didn't get anything accomplished there, not that we were really aiming to, but we did succeed in killing some time and having some fun.

Since it was getting pretty late, almost 1:30 in the morning, we figured we'd head home after leaving Wal-Mart. We ended up getting slowed down by about a half-hour or so, thanks to a wrong turn we initially believed was going to be a shortcut, but we eventually ended up on the right road to home. Moses and I hung out with the girls at their place for a little while before we called it a night and rolled home about 4:00 in the morning. So yeah, I'm a little worn out. I slept until 1:45 this afternoon and I'm still tired.

My plans for what's left of the day are to simply sit back and relax. Unless something comes up, I'll probably be doing the relaxation thing all week. At least until Friday, that is. Depending on the availability of particular members of our crew, there may be big plans for Friday night. The Grand, where we previously caught a midnight showing of Army of Darkness back in August, is doing a double feature of The Exorcist and The Silence of the Lambs on both Friday and Saturday. They'll be showing The Exorcist at 8:00 and Silence of the Lambs at midnight on Friday, then swapping them on Saturday night. If every member of the crew can be available, since we don't want any of us being left out, we're going to try and make it to both Friday shows. If not, we're going to implement Plan B and see just the two midnight showings. Either way would be a lot of fun, but I'm kinda pulling for Plan A, just to save making an extra trip.

One way or the other, I think we'll have just as great a time as we did when we saw Army of Darkness. I still haven't seen more than a few minutes of The Exorcist, and I can't think of a more fun way to see it for the first time. So here's hoping our plans go off without a hitch.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go kick back and enjoy a lazy Sunday.

Semper Fi

Myself and Moses caught The Marine late this afternoon. We'd meant to catch it last night with our Anderson County crew, but due to extenuating circimstances, we missed the last showing. But no matter, Moses and I saw it today, and boy, is it a mess.

I went in not expecting much, and while it was fun, I repeatedly had my intelligence insulted by the movie. The lead character, played by pro wrestler John Cena, narrowly avoids being killed in numerous explosions despite the fact that a normal person would have been burned to a crisp. A normal person would have been completely and thoroughly broken by the end of the movie, but Cena gets through without so much as a scratch. And his character's wife, played by Kelly Carlson from that TV show Nip/Tuck, is repeatedly smacked upside the head, yet apparently never has any bruises or a busted nose or a concussion or anything that would be evidence of being regularly struck in the face. Are we to believe that these characters can survive all this punishment without recieving any visible injuries?

There is such a thing as suspension of disbelief, and The Marine stomps all over it. Characters show no battle damage, the villains shoot like they recieved weapons training from the A-Team, and the insane twist that concludes the second act just makes the movie really tough to believe. (Plus the twist is immediately negated anyway, so I guess it doesn't matter). The acting is so-so, with Robert Patrick and his henchmen playing their roles with tongues planted firmly in cheek. Patrick's facial expression when one of his henchmen compares Cena to the Terminator is priceless. Carlson accomplishes nothing aside from standing around looking cute, and I would advise Cena not to quit his day job. I just don't see him following in The Rock's footsteps and becoming the next big action star.

The Marine is a big, dumb, violent action movie in the vein of Commando. There's fighting and guns and explosions, and anyone who enjoys that sort of thing will like this. Personally, I'll give The Marine a thumbs in the middle with two and a half stars. It could have been a whole lot better, I'll say that much.

Breaking High Scores

With all the talk about Resident Evil 4 over at Lib's blog, I decided to dip my toe back into the game's waters last night. I started with the Mercenaries side-game, which I may or may not have a mild addiction to. I played a few rounds, usually topping out at between 50,000 and 60,000 points. I picked it back up today, I got the same results. But then, the magic happened.

I headed out with Wesker in the castle, where I'd had plenty of success with him in the past. For most of the time, I kept the sniper rifle armed. It's not exactly intended for close combat, but I make it a point to keep my distance while playing The Mercenaries.

It was a rough battle, with freaks coming from all sides with crossbows, spiked shields, and maces. I wasn't even sure if I'd make it out alive, thanks to my health running dangerously low in the last ten seconds, and I had no pick-me-ups to help. I retreated to a safe place with scant time remaining, and when the dust settled, I was victorious.

My final score: 109 freaks killed, with three Superclaws dusted and a streak of 36 in a row, for a grand total of 112,290 points. This obliterated my previous high score of 108,420, which I set back in April in the castle with Wesker.

Today is a proud day for me as a fan of Resident Evil 4. Now if I could just break the 100,000 point barrier in the other three levels, things would be great.

And Now To Wait For "Ring vs. Grudge"

Like I said on Friday, there were some rumblings among my posse to go see The Grudge 2 last night. And that's exactly what we did. Moses and I picked up one of our Anderson County crew (since the other was unfortunately unavailable) and caught the 10:00 showing in Frankfort.

My honest opinion of the movie is that it's got a bad case of sequelitis. I just didn't think it was as good as the previous movie. That's only exascerbated by the fact that the plot teeters on the brink of incoherence. It has three seperate storylines going on at once, and because it bounces back and forth between them, it can make the movie hard to follow. If the movie followed a more linear method of storytelling, it probably wouldn't be so confusing. But I think if one can decipher a proper timeline of events, it might make a little more sense.

What it lacks in plot, the movie makes up for with atmosphere and visuals. The movie is thoroughly creepy, building up a certain level of suspense while lulling the viewer into a false sense of security in order to create more effective jump scares. And believe me, there's some really good jump scares. The Grudge 2 is a lot like its predecessor, in that there are a lot of jump scares to go around. Combine the jumps with the atmosphere, the spooky ghosts, and the downright frightening sound design, and you have all the makings of a horror movie that would have been a very disturbing one had it been a little easier to follow.

The acting is hit or miss, but it isn't too bad. Sarah Michelle Gellar is great despite a limited role, and Amber Tamblyn is really good (although she's no SMG). Takako Fuji, though stuck in a thankless role that doesn't require a lot of "traditional" acting, was quite frightening as the malevolent "onryō" she's played in all prior Grudge movies, both Japanese and American. The rest of the main cast - Arielle Kebbel, Edison Chen, and Matthew Knight - are not bad, but don't really stand out, either. I'm also saddened that Ryo Ishibashi is relegated to a rather mundane cameo. Ishibashi was great in the previous movie, but is unfortunately only around for one scene here. While he's great in the one scene, and it does hint of his character's eventual fate, I personally would have been satisfied if he had been given Edison Chen's role.

As a whole, The Grudge 2 isn't all it could have been. It isn't awful, but it almost seems like just a quick way for the filmmakers to capitalize on the previous movie's success. However, with a little work, I think it could have been just as good as the previous movie. Perhaps an eventual unrated DVD will help correct that? But as it stands, I'm going to give The Grudge 2 three and a half stars. And if the movie taught me anything at all, it's to stay out of haunted houses and Japanese no-tell motels. Though that's just good advice in general.

Jason Voorhees: True Villain or Misunderstood Anti-Hero?

I'm watching Friday the 13th, Part 8 on Bravo right now. That's the one where Jason goes to New York City, but spends the majority of the movie on a cruise ship. So I'm watching this, and I got to thinking about Jason's role in the franchise. He's ostensibly the villain, but with every new entry in the series, I find myself cheering more and more for Jason. Pretty much everybody he kills has it coming, which really paints Jason as more of an anti-hero than a villain.

Yes, Jason kills nearly indiscriminately, as we see him avoid killing children in the sixth movie. (Though, to be honest, that doesn't explain why he wanted to kill a young Corey Feldman so badly in Part 4.) Most of Jason's quarry are jocks, slutty party girls, bullies, potheads, and the occasional nerd. In later movies, it seems he kills for the sake of killing, with no real rhyme or reason. But in the early going, his kills were revenge for the death of his mother and for his own supposed drowning as a child. By that logic, there's an argument for Jason being considered the horror genre's answer to The Punisher. As I said earlier, his victims more or less ask for it, especially in each further installment of the series.

I've also noticed that with each new sequel, Jason's kills become less scary and more outrageous. It's as if someone said, "Okay, guys, Jason isn't as scary anymore, so let's see if we can make him cool instead." Just watch some of the later sequels, and you'll see what I mean. In the early movies, his kills were simple. Mainly just a lot of stabbings, with the occasional broken neck or head-squashing. But from about the middle of the series on, the kills get bigger, badder, and a lot more violent. While part of it is probably catering to the gorehounds in the audience, it also works to make people say, "holy crap, did you see that?!" during the movies.

I also think that since Jason is more "cool" than "scary" nowadays, the creative kills are his main drawing point. So why not accentuate the positives, deemphasize the negatives. Why do a simple machete to the chest when you can punch somebody's head clean off their shoulders and slam dunk it in a dumpster?

I don't really know where I was headed with this post when I began it. When I started, I just felt like posting, and I decided to talk about the first thing that popped into my mind. And really, what's better to talk about on Friday the 13th than the Friday the 13th movies? Not a lot, that's what.

And I've pretty much talked myself out for tonight. I should be back later with some Saturday the 14th talk, if everything goes according to plan. Me and my crew were aiming to see The Grudge 2 tomorrow night, but I just need to get ahold of everybody else and make sure we're all on the same wavelength in regards to that. So until then, true believers, excelsior.

Coming Soon: Blogiversary #5

Happy Friday the 13th, everybody. I hope nobody's walked under any ladders or had any black cats cross their paths or had any psychos in hockey masks try to inflict any grievous bodily harm upon them. If any of that has happened to you readers, I guess my advice is "better luck next time."

As someone who enjoys days like today, I think it's especially cool that we've got one of those rare occasions where there's a Friday the 13th in the same month as Halloween. That means I'm probably going to end up overdosing on horror movies this month. And that's awesome.

So Halloween is coming up in a few weeks, and two days after that - three weeks from yesterday, to be specific - is this here blog's fifth birthday. I usually make it a point to celebrate Halloween to the fullest extent I possibly can, but I'm especially looking forward to November 2nd. I haven't really celebrated past blogiversaries, but this one is big. It's special. It's my quinquennial. I've always had a certain amount of pride is knowing that this very blog is one of the oldest of the loose circle of affiliated blogs that it is a part of, so I'm going to be celebrating my tenure in high fashion.

I don't want to jump too deep into this post, since I want to save a little something for the big day. But between today, Halloween, and November 2nd, the next few weeks aren't going to be all that bad.

Chainsaws Rule!

I finally got the chance to go see the new Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie tonight in Bardstown. And if you want the honest truth, I'll give it to you. The movie is violent, bloody, nasty, mean, and boasts its fair share of dark humor. It's so violent, I'm actually surprised New Line managed to release it with an honest R-rating. Michael Bay must have greased some palms at the MPAA or something, because this thing is a giant bucket of blood wrapped in a big bloody ribbon.

The movie's family of villains is just like the movie itself: absolutely unrelenting. Leatherface and his family of cannibals is nothing short of terrifying, and what makes them that way is not completely because of how crazy they are, but how normal they perceive themselves to be. Forcing physical and psychological torture upon innocent bystanders before chopping them up and serving them for dinner is nothing out of the ordinary for them. To me, that kind of horror movie villain is the scariest: the one that feels totally, 100% justified in what they do. The ones that don't really believe the atrocities they commit are wrong scare me a lot more than any regular, everyday movie killer. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love Jason and Freddy, but Leatherface's motivations are a million times more disturbing. Jason's murders are for vengeance, Freddy's murders are for his own entertainment, and Leatherface's murders are committed simply because that's the way his family survives.

From a technical standpoint, the movie is very well put-together. Jonathan Liebesman completely redeems himself after the disaster that was his 2003 movie Darkness Falls, as his direction here is exemplary. I did feel his overuse of the shaky camera was a little much, I don't have any other bad things to say about it. Steve Jablonsky's music is awesome too, and the cast isn't bad. To tell the truth, if you're going to see this movie for the cast, you're better off following R. Lee Ermey and Andrew Bryniarski. Bryniarski is awesome as Leatherface, portraying him as a monstrous, single-minded brute that was seeming born to work in a slaughterhouse. He is only exceeded by Ermey, who I thought was the best part of the entire movie. Ermey's choice of movie roles over the years has led him to be somewhat typecast as a no-nonsense tough guy, and his role as Sheriff Hoyt plays that up. Sheriff Hoyt has no problem with shooting people for no reason, beating someone with a nightstick while forcing them to do pushups, or being a complete jerk in general, and Ermey plays the role with a sadistic glee. As I said before, the movie features some black humor, and Ermey is great as its main purveyor. I can't imagine anyone else in the role.

I thought the movie was quite effective, very well done, and a great start for 2006's Halloween season. So for that, I'm going to give Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning a solid four stars. I recommend it, but only to those who can handle it.

Hard Candy, Easy Review

Got a review of Hard Candy up over at "Sutton At The Movies." I meant to get this done last week, but I got about halfway through before I put it off to review Supergirl. At least I got it done, so I guess waiting a week or two didn't really hurt it all that bad.

So now that that's out of the way, what do I have to talk about? That is a mystery even to me, my friends. Wait, on second thought, I take that back. I do have some things after all!

Moses and I were in Danville to see School For Scoundrels on Tuesday, and after the movie, we decided to go over to Wal-Mart to hang out for a while. We didn't really intend on hanging out all that long, mainly because Moses just wanted to pick up the new X-Men 3 and Fast and the Furious 3 DVDs and probably the fifth season of Smallville if he could find it. But we ended up getting into this long - and I mean long - conversation with some guy we bumped into in the electronics department. We were probably there for a good hour and a half, two hours. We ended up going from what we liked and disliked about X-Men 3, to why Maury Povich's show sucks, to Waverly Hills Sanatorium up in Louisville, to Biblical apocrypha. How we got from one subject to the next, I have no clue. But hey, it was actually a pretty fun conversation. So we got that, and Moses ended up acquiring X-Men 3, Fast and the Furious 3, and a documentary about Waverly Hills that aired on the Sci-Fi Channel.

Having done that, we decided to head out. And as we got out of the parking lot, I ended up noticing a comic book store in the shopping center just off the main highway. This was the first time I'd seen the place, and I've been wishing for a comic book store that was closer to home, so we totally stopped by. We didn't get to stay long, since the place was about 15 minutes from closing up for the night, but I'm totally going to be in there whenever I have the opportunity and money to burn. I'm going to have to keep some comics I'd like to acquire in mind, maybe even keep an eye out for a "Help Wanted" sign once I get on my feet and do some job hunting.

And that was pretty much it for the day. I probably would have posted about it earlier, but the last few days haven't exactly been kind to me. But eh, I did pretty much the same thing last week, so whatever. Either way, I'm wrapping this one up here. Out.

Sickness, Supergirl, and Scoundrels

I'm still not feeling as good as I'd like to, but I have improved a little over how I was feeling last night. I'm just weak as a kitten, and I haven't had anything resembling an appetite all day. But I guess that's to be expected.

However, I did manage to work up enough energy to finish something I'd been working on for the last few days. And that something is a brand new review! This time around, the review is of the one and only Supergirl. I just need to get around to reviewing Superman Returns, and I'll have the entire franchise done.

Speaking of movies, I saw School For Scoundrels in Danville on Tuesday. It was a little slow at the beginning, but it picked up steam as it progressed. I really liked Billy Bob Thornton, and Jon "Napoleon Dynamite" Heder isn't bad, but I think the movie really had a hard time balancing the dark humor with the "dork gets the girl" thing. If it stayed closer to being a dark comedy, I personally think it would have been a little funnier. But I did enjoy the movie, so School For Scoundrels gets three and a half stars.

And that's about it for this one. I'm going to go relax and get ready for the next episode of Smallville. Later.

Calling In Sick

Gonna try to keep this one short, but tonight was the absolute suck. I feel way too weak, and I should probably be in bed right now. And that's where I'm headed as soon as I get this post finished. So let's get this done so I can get myself a little rest.

Moses and I were headed back up to Lawrenceburg, which I guess has become something of a weekly trend. We mainly went to return some DVDs he rented last week, but we ended up hanging out with Jennifer and Tiff too. Dropped off the videos, ran by Kroger so Jennifer could fill out a job application, then headed over to Wendy's. That's when I discovered that Wendy's has started selling vanilla Frostys, one of which I just had to get. It wasn't bad at all, but what was bad was the fact that my stomach was oddly hurting before I got into the restaurant.

We headed back to Jennifer's afterwards, and played a few video games. I love Resident Evil 4, but I never realized just how much I favored the GameCube version until I played the PS2 version. It took me forever to learn the controls, and even then I had no clue what I was doing. I normally dominate at the Mercenaries game, but I played twice and topped out at 15,000 points before I got killed both times. I think I'll stick with the GameCube version, thank you.

Normally, it would have been a fun night. Like I said before, I was having some odd stomach aches. These aches lasted all night, until a fit of coughing segued into full-on vomiting. I don't know why it happened, but I do know it pretty much killed all my fun. I thought that the vomiting would be the end of my troubles, but nope, it wasn't. Moses and I were on the road to home about half an hour ago, and I had to tell Moses to pull over so I could throw up again. Ugh.

It's been a good long while since I've felt this horrible, and I don't like it one bit. I don't know how I got this way, but I do have an idea; one of the kids my mom babysits has a stomach virus, and I probably caught it from her. I'm not sure, but I do know that I am sick as a dog, and I hope I feel better in the morning.

So with that, I head off to bed. Here's hoping I'm not so sick in the morning.

Recapping Last Week

So now we've entered the month of October. The year seems like it's just flown by. It'll be Halloween just four weeks from Tuesday, and I'm totally looking forward to that.

But this past week has just sapped nearly all of my strength, mainly because Tuesday and Wednesday were so crammed full of activity. Tuesday saw myself and Moses head up to Bardstown. He had an 8:00 appointment to get his car's windows tinted, so we dropped the car off and walked around town. Unfortunately, because there aren't any sidewalks in that section of town, we had to walk in the grass on the side of the road. That wouldn't be too bad normally, but thanks to all the rain we got last weekend, the ground was still really wet and nasty. So when you combine that with my crappy shoes, I ended up feeling like I was walking around in a puddle all day. That was boatloads of fun.

But anyway, we hit up Burger King for breakfast first. Have you seen those Meat'normous sandwiches that Burger King sells? It's two sausage patties, two eggs, cheese, ham, and bacon on a bun. The thing clogs my arteries just thinking about it. It can't be healthy, but I tried one anyway, and it wasn't bad. Though to be honest, I'll take a bacon, egg, and cheese McGriddle from McDonald's any day of the week.

After that, Kroger. Moses has an uncle that works there, so he wanted to swing by and say howdy. I also think that Moses has developed an affection for scratch-off lottery tickets. He got particularly hooked back in August, when we spent a good long while at the Kentucky lottery booth at the state fair. The reason I mention this is because as we headed out of Kroger, we stopped over at the little lottery ticket machines by the door so he could buy a few scratch-off tickets. I think he just about broke even, which is better than a loss, right?

From Kroger, we started to head back in the direction of the car shop. Just to kill a little time, we made a stop at the Movie Gallery down the street from the place. What really attracted me was the racks of used DVDs Movie Gallery had on sale. Most of them were priced between ten and fifteen dollars, but quite a few were marked down to five bucks. Needless to say, we made pretty good use of that deal. So we took our movies, picked up the car, and had a movie night that evening. And that was Tuesday.

Wednesday was a little bit slower, but still a busy day. Again, it involved Moses and I hanging around. But instead of Bardstown, we handed up to Lawrenceburg to hang out with our Anderson County associates Jennifer and Tiffany. It was mostly us sitting around at Jennifer's house, but we did get around to watching some of the Supergirl movie, played a little of the Punisher PS2 game, then caught House of the Dead 2 on the Sci-Fi Channel. Good times.

Yeah, this is a post (or two) I could have made last week. But I'm slow, sue me. But really, any time is a good time to post. Am I right? Of course I am. I do think I might have another post like this later in the week, though. Moses and I are thinking of making some more Lawrenceburg plans, especially since he's got to return some DVDs to Lawrenceburg's Movie Gallery on Wednesday. But we'll see what happens, because we're spur-of-the-moment people. Until then, true believers, excelsior.