Our own Horus Kemwer of Against the Modern World chimes in with his Halloween entry! I think you'll enjoy, especially if you watch the clips.
Underappreciated monster movie? Perhaps. Have you ever heard of it? Probably not. Bizarre, inexplicably nutty, yet strangely compelling cultural artifact from across the border? Definitely.
It's Caperucita y Pulgarcito Contra Los Monstruos (1962) from "the other Roberto Rodriguez."
The title is usually translated as "Little Red Riding Hood and Tom Thumb vs. The Monsters," but like everything else about this movie, it works better in Spanish. (Important tip: if you watch it, do so with subtitles, not the by all accounts atrocious dubbing.)
The film pits the tiny tots Little Red Riding Hood and Tom Thumb (along with their trusty, and extraordinarily annoying skunk side kick) against "all the monsters we have known in fairy tales." These monsters apparently hang out in a castle together in "The Kingdom of Evil" plotting against our two heroes. Their sheer goodness (and their apparent ability to sometimes convert monsters from the path of evil) is enough to incur the wrath of the combined monster forces from all fairy tales (and classic novels, apparently, as Frankenstein's monster and Dracula are amongst the bunch).
Another category of "fairy tale" appears to be Disney movies, judging by the appearance of characters both good . . .
. . . and bad.
Still, the camps is hilarious, the kids are charming, and the songs good for a laugh. You won't be scared, but you will be astounded. And let's not forget the fight scenes:
And, as with all genre-crunching artifacts from foreign cultures, there's much that seems oddly out of place—e.g. sexual innuendo between Dracula and the Witch, torture scenes, and an invocation of Satan. Have no fear though, the movie is still resolutely G rated, aimed squarely at children from the planet Mars.
[Sorry, no costume stories - Horus doesn't wear costumes on Halloween.]
Film. Comics. Sci-Fi. Superheroes. Pulp. Noir. History. Superman. 20th Century Archaeology.
Showing posts with label interaction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label interaction. Show all posts
Friday, October 28, 2011
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Halloween Interactivity! Day 4: Jamie
We cruise into Day 4 of our interactivity responses with some words from my house-mate, pal and beloved bride, Jamie (you may call her McSteans, if you so choose).
1) Under-appreciated Halloween type movie
Not being the scary movie connoisseur that many of you readers likely are, I was at first stumped by this question. Most of the horror/monster/creepy movies I've seen and have liked are pretty well known and loved. So instead of an "under-appreciated" film, I have two bad movies I've seen too many times, thanks to boredom and HBO, that were not to my knowledge, popular.
The first is Teen Witch, the 1989 Robin Lively vehicle where our protagonist is a cute girl who for some reason (the script says so) is unpopular. She meets a tiny witch (character actress Zelda Rubenstein) who gives her a special witchy necklace which Teen Witch uses to make herself popular (of course). I don't remember much else about the movie, but I think we can safely guess lessons are learned about being happy with yourself or being popular isn't all it's cracked up to be, or something like that. The one scene that has been etched permanently into my brain is the jaw droppingly bad sequence where Teen Witch uses her new witchy powers to make her best friend into a rapper so her friend can impress a group of 80s "toughs" (guys in acid washed jeans with mullets doing a choreographed musical routine next to their car). At least I think that's what was happening. See for yourself, if you dare:
Top That!
The other movie I've seen too much is the sequel to Critters, the aptly named Critters 2. I think the original Critters was conceived attempting to cash in on the popularity of Gremlins and must have been successful enough to green light not one but three additional movies. Being easily spooked as a youngster (E.T. freaked me out, for God's sake) the "critters" themselves seemed relatively unscary. Plus they got style points for rolling themselves everywhere for transportation and assembling in the movie's climax to form a giant Super Critter.
This is why we don't have more cats
2) Worst costume choice
When I was about seven, my mom made me a black cat costume for Halloween. I loved it so much I wore it around the house all the damn time, all year long. It scared the crap out of our actual cat, but that didn't stop me. The cat costume made a repeat Halloween appearance the following year. By year three, I had clearly outgrown the stupid thing, but was determined to wear it once again. My brilliant idea was to scuzz it up a bit, wear weird makeup, colorful socks, and go as a "punk cat". Needless to say, I looked ridiculous. My mom just kind of shook her head and didn't say much, clearly knowing this was a bad call.
You know when you get a group of trick-or-treaters and there's always that one kid where you're just not sure where they were going with their outfit so instead of saying, "oh what a cute pirate/vampire/Batman!" you just blink for a second and say, "Happy Halloween!"? That was me.
1) Under-appreciated Halloween type movie
Not being the scary movie connoisseur that many of you readers likely are, I was at first stumped by this question. Most of the horror/monster/creepy movies I've seen and have liked are pretty well known and loved. So instead of an "under-appreciated" film, I have two bad movies I've seen too many times, thanks to boredom and HBO, that were not to my knowledge, popular.
The first is Teen Witch, the 1989 Robin Lively vehicle where our protagonist is a cute girl who for some reason (the script says so) is unpopular. She meets a tiny witch (character actress Zelda Rubenstein) who gives her a special witchy necklace which Teen Witch uses to make herself popular (of course). I don't remember much else about the movie, but I think we can safely guess lessons are learned about being happy with yourself or being popular isn't all it's cracked up to be, or something like that. The one scene that has been etched permanently into my brain is the jaw droppingly bad sequence where Teen Witch uses her new witchy powers to make her best friend into a rapper so her friend can impress a group of 80s "toughs" (guys in acid washed jeans with mullets doing a choreographed musical routine next to their car). At least I think that's what was happening. See for yourself, if you dare:
Top That!
The other movie I've seen too much is the sequel to Critters, the aptly named Critters 2. I think the original Critters was conceived attempting to cash in on the popularity of Gremlins and must have been successful enough to green light not one but three additional movies. Being easily spooked as a youngster (E.T. freaked me out, for God's sake) the "critters" themselves seemed relatively unscary. Plus they got style points for rolling themselves everywhere for transportation and assembling in the movie's climax to form a giant Super Critter.
This is why we don't have more cats
2) Worst costume choice
When I was about seven, my mom made me a black cat costume for Halloween. I loved it so much I wore it around the house all the damn time, all year long. It scared the crap out of our actual cat, but that didn't stop me. The cat costume made a repeat Halloween appearance the following year. By year three, I had clearly outgrown the stupid thing, but was determined to wear it once again. My brilliant idea was to scuzz it up a bit, wear weird makeup, colorful socks, and go as a "punk cat". Needless to say, I looked ridiculous. My mom just kind of shook her head and didn't say much, clearly knowing this was a bad call.
You know when you get a group of trick-or-treaters and there's always that one kid where you're just not sure where they were going with their outfit so instead of saying, "oh what a cute pirate/vampire/Batman!" you just blink for a second and say, "Happy Halloween!"? That was me.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Halloween Interactivity! Day 3: SimonUK
Hey all!
SimonUK has pitched in with his response to our "under appreciated horror movie" question. SimonUK has seen, really, a ridiculous amount of horror. Its kind of remarkable.
So, I take him at his word when he talks scary flicks.
Unappreciated Horror Movies.
I'll start with Horror Express, a very weird Spanish/British co-production featuring Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Telly Savalas- shouting alot as a Kossack, and a Thing type monster on the loose aboard the Orient Express. Loony ending and rock funk soundtrack despite being set in the 1800s. Very striking images and some genuinely scary moments.
Cushing gets to say, "we're not monsters, we're British you know."
This is the first horror film i remember and I had nightmares about 'red eyes' for weeks.
Worst Costume
My worst costume was a bumble bee, it weighed a ton, I was very hot and nearly drowned when someone pushed me in the swimming pool in it in my late teens. And it wasn't remotely scary.
we kid - the costume was this -
SimonUK has pitched in with his response to our "under appreciated horror movie" question. SimonUK has seen, really, a ridiculous amount of horror. Its kind of remarkable.
So, I take him at his word when he talks scary flicks.
Unappreciated Horror Movies.
I'll start with Horror Express, a very weird Spanish/British co-production featuring Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Telly Savalas- shouting alot as a Kossack, and a Thing type monster on the loose aboard the Orient Express. Loony ending and rock funk soundtrack despite being set in the 1800s. Very striking images and some genuinely scary moments.
Cushing gets to say, "we're not monsters, we're British you know."
This is the first horror film i remember and I had nightmares about 'red eyes' for weeks.
Worst Costume
My worst costume was a bumble bee, it weighed a ton, I was very hot and nearly drowned when someone pushed me in the swimming pool in it in my late teens. And it wasn't remotely scary.
 |
| SimonUk's costume was remarkably accurate |
 |
| okay, this is also not SimonUK, but I like to think he looked this charming |
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Halloween Interactivity! Day 2: Maxwell
We're back for Day 2 of the Signal Watch Halloween Interactivity!
Signal Corps, I'd be lying if I said we wouldn't welcome additional entries. We'd love to hear what you've got to say!
For a quick review of the interactivity guidelines, just click here, and you're off to the (spooky) races.
Longtime Leaguer and now Signal Corpsman Maxwell (aka: Cowgirl Funk) has submitted a response to at least half the interactivity. She gets a gold star!
Maxwell, take it away...
I have a soft spot for the Peanuts gang and assumed that It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown is a treasured and easily recognizable part of Halloween Americana. In this delightful Halloween classic, Charlie Brown cuts too many holes in his ghost costume, and only receives rocks when the gang goes out for "Tricks or Treats".
This, like most of my terrible costumes, was an overestimation of cultural relevance, and suffered further from poor execution. Instead of cutting holes I opted to draw too many eye-holes onto my white ghost cloth. The costume may have made more sense in a group of other ghosts, with a little more context. Instead I looked like a ghost dalmatian with a bag of rocks. Good grief.
A selection of additional poor costume choices:
- Abstract Art
- Steve Prefontaine
- A dead model from the 1999 GAP Mellow Yellow, "Everyone in Chords" Campaign
As a quick aside, I would have paid good money to see you in the Prefontaine outfit.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Halloween Interactivity! Day 1: My Brother
Hey Signal Corps!
We didn't exactly get a crippling flood of responses to this year's Halloween interactivity. I don't know if you're still worn out from last year or you didn't feel like putting up with my shenanigans for a second go-round. Maybe its the economy or sun spots. You're an unpredictable bunch.
Its a SPOOOOKY time of year, full of ghouls and goblins and sugar cookies. And we feel this lends itself to a bit of personal storytelling. I may personally be very scared of the unquiet dead in ghost form, and you might find the idea of the Moth Man terrifying, but that's what makes it interesting. We've all got our thing.
This year we had two questions we asked. Two fairly simple questions, I thought. Well, not questions you people wanted to answer.
Luckily, we can always count on my brother, Steanso, to make sure I get at least one response. I should note: He kept asking me if he "won". So, everybody, he "won", okay. Let him have this.
Now, from my brother...
1) Favorite underappreciated scary movie:
Does anyone else remember Q? That giant, flying lizard was somehow both cool and a little scary when I was a kid. Mostly I just liked big, giant monsters (I was a big Godzilla fan since the time I was about toddler size), and when I saw Q as a pretty young kid, it struck me as some kind of weird American take on the Godzilla theme.
Also C.H.U.D. They were cannibalistic and humanoid and they lived under our feat. Who wouldn't be made a little nervous by that?
And I liked Maximum Overdrive. Giant, killer trucks. It was funny and stupid, but the idea of being run over by giant, sentient trucks was still both entertaining and a little troubling. ...I just read on Wikipedia that Stephen King (in his only directorial attempt) has now said that he was "coked out of his mind" during production of the movie and didn't really know what he was doing. Somehow that movie about the angry trucks makes a little more sense now.
2) Worst Halloween costume?
Well, one year I was The Blair Witch. I wore a set of bobbly antennas and a black tee shirt. The Blair Witch is muy mysterioso and leaves a lot of room for interpretation.
Another year I started out wearing a cool jawa costume that looked just like something out of the movie. It had a big hood, a dark cover over the face, and eyes that lit up. Cool costume for a little kid. But it was also made of think, burlapish material and it was really hot. Eventually I ended up taking off the hood and walking the streets as a small, sweaty Obi Wan Kenobi. The neighbors didn't really get why a little kid would want to dress up as a short, stinky version of the old man from the Star Wars movies, but they gave me candy, anyway.
I've also been various things just involved clown makeup or fake blood (sometimes at the same time). I used to wear this stuff when my band was playing Halloween gigs because it would be too hot to wear a mask. Once the band got rocking, though, the makeup or fake blood would usually run, and I'd just end up looking like some kind of bruised, multicolored mess. Nothin' to be proud of.
We didn't exactly get a crippling flood of responses to this year's Halloween interactivity. I don't know if you're still worn out from last year or you didn't feel like putting up with my shenanigans for a second go-round. Maybe its the economy or sun spots. You're an unpredictable bunch.
Its a SPOOOOKY time of year, full of ghouls and goblins and sugar cookies. And we feel this lends itself to a bit of personal storytelling. I may personally be very scared of the unquiet dead in ghost form, and you might find the idea of the Moth Man terrifying, but that's what makes it interesting. We've all got our thing.
This year we had two questions we asked. Two fairly simple questions, I thought. Well, not questions you people wanted to answer.
Luckily, we can always count on my brother, Steanso, to make sure I get at least one response. I should note: He kept asking me if he "won". So, everybody, he "won", okay. Let him have this.
Now, from my brother...
1) Favorite underappreciated scary movie:
Does anyone else remember Q? That giant, flying lizard was somehow both cool and a little scary when I was a kid. Mostly I just liked big, giant monsters (I was a big Godzilla fan since the time I was about toddler size), and when I saw Q as a pretty young kid, it struck me as some kind of weird American take on the Godzilla theme.
Also C.H.U.D. They were cannibalistic and humanoid and they lived under our feat. Who wouldn't be made a little nervous by that?
And I liked Maximum Overdrive. Giant, killer trucks. It was funny and stupid, but the idea of being run over by giant, sentient trucks was still both entertaining and a little troubling. ...I just read on Wikipedia that Stephen King (in his only directorial attempt) has now said that he was "coked out of his mind" during production of the movie and didn't really know what he was doing. Somehow that movie about the angry trucks makes a little more sense now.
 |
| I've never seen this movie, but I always appreciated that the killer truck had the face of The Green Goblin |
2) Worst Halloween costume?
Well, one year I was The Blair Witch. I wore a set of bobbly antennas and a black tee shirt. The Blair Witch is muy mysterioso and leaves a lot of room for interpretation.
Another year I started out wearing a cool jawa costume that looked just like something out of the movie. It had a big hood, a dark cover over the face, and eyes that lit up. Cool costume for a little kid. But it was also made of think, burlapish material and it was really hot. Eventually I ended up taking off the hood and walking the streets as a small, sweaty Obi Wan Kenobi. The neighbors didn't really get why a little kid would want to dress up as a short, stinky version of the old man from the Star Wars movies, but they gave me candy, anyway.
I've also been various things just involved clown makeup or fake blood (sometimes at the same time). I used to wear this stuff when my band was playing Halloween gigs because it would be too hot to wear a mask. Once the band got rocking, though, the makeup or fake blood would usually run, and I'd just end up looking like some kind of bruised, multicolored mess. Nothin' to be proud of.
Friday, October 21, 2011
Saturday Night Interactivity - Drunk Tweet "Big Trouble in Little China" with Signal Watch, @Placeslost, Comics Scribe @chris_roberson and the fabulous @allisontype
What the hell, ya'll?
So Saturday night, PaulT and I are joining comics writer Chris Roberson and his amazing better-half AllisonType, for a screening of Big Trouble in Little China. And YOU can play along.
THE POWER OF THE INTERWEBS
We'll be having a cocktail or three and via the magic of Netflix Streaming, we'll be watching the John Carpenter directed classic Big Trouble in Little China.
Whilst watching, we'll be on Twitter using hashtag #BingeTrouble
As a reminder, our twitter handle is: @melbotis
Follow along as PaulT, Jamie and I attempt to keep up with these veteran DrunkTweeters!
So Saturday night, PaulT and I are joining comics writer Chris Roberson and his amazing better-half AllisonType, for a screening of Big Trouble in Little China. And YOU can play along.
THE POWER OF THE INTERWEBS
We'll be having a cocktail or three and via the magic of Netflix Streaming, we'll be watching the John Carpenter directed classic Big Trouble in Little China.
Whilst watching, we'll be on Twitter using hashtag #BingeTrouble
As a reminder, our twitter handle is: @melbotis
Follow along as PaulT, Jamie and I attempt to keep up with these veteran DrunkTweeters!
 |
| drunk tweeting: it's all in the reflexes |
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
The Halloween Participation DEADline is TODAY
Hey Signal Corps!
The response to this year's contest has been more or less a trickle of emails coming in. But I know you guys, and I know you WANT to participate.
Curious about the original post where we talked about this? CLICK HERE!!!
But here's how you can participate:
The SPOOOOOOKY QUESTIONS:
Timeline:
Relax:
Everytime we do one of these, you guys write in to tell me "I'm not sure what to say" or "My answer won't be good enough". Poppycock. You've all got stories, and everytime we do this, its a blast. Just share what you've got.
Guidelines:
The response to this year's contest has been more or less a trickle of emails coming in. But I know you guys, and I know you WANT to participate.
Curious about the original post where we talked about this? CLICK HERE!!!
But here's how you can participate:
The SPOOOOOOKY QUESTIONS:
1) What is your favorite under-appreciated horror/ monster/ creepy/ whatever movie. What scary movie did you see that you were shocked to either realize nobody had ever seen, or you realized later: everybody else hates this movie but me?
2) What was your worst costume choice (or that of a friend or colleague)? What costume do you just completely and totally regret having worn? Why?
Timeline:
- Please send in all responses by October 19.
- We will begin running responses week of October 24.
Relax:
Everytime we do one of these, you guys write in to tell me "I'm not sure what to say" or "My answer won't be good enough". Poppycock. You've all got stories, and everytime we do this, its a blast. Just share what you've got.
Guidelines:
- You may submit three answers per question (maybe you have a whole list of schlocky movies you really like or just have no ability to put together a costume. You tell me)
- Please keep profanity to a minimum. Remember that my mother-in-law reads this site, and that we love Judy and do not want to make her sad with your swears and gutter talk
- There is no fixed length for your response, but please include a "who, what, where, when, why" in your answer, if possible
- You may answer either or both questions (or neither, but we won't give you credit for lack of effort)
- Pictures are welcome
- As editor-in-chief of this site, I reserve the right to withhold printing your responses with a clear conscience should you go off the rails, but I will be happy to talk through any issues I have regarding content of your submission
Friday, October 14, 2011
Alert: Halloween Fun Deadline is Approaching!
hey, everybody.
I know it seems like Halloween is still aways off, but we've only received one submission for the Halloween participation-palooza.
This makes me a sad The League. We can't really do this without YOU.
We'd like to get all submissions, if any, by October 19th. So if you have a minute or two over the weekend, why not kick us a submission?
To read up on what you can do - CLICK HERE!!!
I know it seems like Halloween is still aways off, but we've only received one submission for the Halloween participation-palooza.
This makes me a sad The League. We can't really do this without YOU.
We'd like to get all submissions, if any, by October 19th. So if you have a minute or two over the weekend, why not kick us a submission?
To read up on what you can do - CLICK HERE!!!
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Don't Forget: Halloween Participation FUN is FUN
Hey, Signal Corps! We have a sort of tradition of reader participation around Halloween going back many, many years.
I posted the rules for the Halloween participation adventure last week, but wanted to put out a reminder.
Tragically, these things DO have deadlines.
Click here to read up on this year's event!
 |
| The gentleman in the cape thinks our participation events are a bloody good time |
Tragically, these things DO have deadlines.
Click here to read up on this year's event!
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Halloweeeeeeeeeeeen Spooktacular Participation Time!
Hey, everybuddy!
Its time for the 2011 Halloween Signal Corps Partipation Event!
Last year we ran a participation event in which folks talked about their favorite and least favorite monsters. Personally, I had a ton of fun reading responses that came in. It was awesome to see all of the different monsters, creatures and explanations.
You can see an index of last year's Halloween Event responses here.
I floated a query via FB and Twitter to see what people thought might work for an event this year, and I appreciate the feedback!
We'll take a bit of a scattershot approach, and I apologize if we didn't use your idea this go-round.
So, the two question categories this year are sort of Charlie Brown questions, which are my favorite:
The SPOOOOOOKY QUESTIONS:
Timeline:
Relax:
Everytime we do one of these, you guys write in to tell me "I'm not sure what to say" or "My answer won't be good enough". Poppycock. You've all got stories, and everytime we do this, its a blast. Just share what you've got.
Guidelines:
Send your submissions (or questions) to: signalwatch at gmail dot com
Looking forward to your responses! You guys always do such an awesome job when we have a group participation event. So let's get scary and see what we can cook up for Halloween!
Its time for the 2011 Halloween Signal Corps Partipation Event!
 |
| Ms. Lake continues to be very excited about this chance for Signal Corps participation |
You can see an index of last year's Halloween Event responses here.
 |
| a reader, spooked by last year's terrific responses |
I floated a query via FB and Twitter to see what people thought might work for an event this year, and I appreciate the feedback!
We'll take a bit of a scattershot approach, and I apologize if we didn't use your idea this go-round.
 |
| when I found yet another picture of a woman looking back over her shoulder in a witch hat with a pumpkin, I figured I better post this one, too. |
So, the two question categories this year are sort of Charlie Brown questions, which are my favorite:
The SPOOOOOOKY QUESTIONS:
1) What is your favorite under-appreciated horror/ monster/ creepy/ whatever movie. What scary movie did you see that you were shocked to either realize nobody had ever seen, or you realized later: everybody else hates this movie but me?
2) What was your worst costume choice (or that of a friend or colleague)? What costume do you just completely and totally regret having worn? Why?
 |
| "and one year, I was just straight up terrifying to the neighbors..." |
Timeline:
- Please send in all responses by October 19.
- We will begin running responses week of October 24.
 |
| This Signal Corps Participation Event participant isn't going to go batty worrying about whether people will like her responses |
Relax:
Everytime we do one of these, you guys write in to tell me "I'm not sure what to say" or "My answer won't be good enough". Poppycock. You've all got stories, and everytime we do this, its a blast. Just share what you've got.
Guidelines:
- You may submit three answers per question (maybe you have a whole list of schlocky movies you really like or just have no ability to put together a costume. You tell me)
- Please keep profanity to a minimum. Remember that my mother-in-law reads this site, and that we love Judy and do not want to make her sad with your swears and gutter talk
- There is no fixed length for your response, but please include a "who, what, where, when, why" in your answer, if possible
- You may answer either or both questions (or neither, but we won't give you credit for lack of effort)
- Pictures are welcome
- As editor-in-chief of this site, I reserve the right to withhold printing your responses with a clear conscience should you go off the rails, but I will be happy to talk through any issues I have regarding content of your submission
Send your submissions (or questions) to: signalwatch at gmail dot com
Looking forward to your responses! You guys always do such an awesome job when we have a group participation event. So let's get scary and see what we can cook up for Halloween!
Friday, July 1, 2011
It's called Super-Social Networking: The Kryptonian
Hey, ya'll!
As much time as I spend on The Signal Watch, we're just one site. There are all kinds of nice folks out there doing good work, and, sure, there are Superman fan pages out there, but this is 2011, the age of Friendster (Tom is still my only friend... ) and whatnot. Alone, the Signal Watch is but one site. Together, we are a full-on-barrage of Superman, comics and pop culture information!
Let me introduce you guys to The Kryptonian, a Super-Site from right here in sunny Austin, Texas!
Anyway, somehow I missed this, but it seems our friends at The Kryptonian recently spotlighted The Signal Watch on their site. We are completely flattered, and we want to make sure we're highlighting their work a bit more than the link we've made permanently under the Superman-related sites over there in the menu bar.
Aaron covers Superman news, manages a Super-forum, talks comics and movies and generally has put together a site we're visiting now on a daily basis. He's building a neat community, and I look forward to watching and participating in the site.
Website
Facebook
Twitter
As much time as I spend on The Signal Watch, we're just one site. There are all kinds of nice folks out there doing good work, and, sure, there are Superman fan pages out there, but this is 2011, the age of Friendster (Tom is still my only friend... ) and whatnot. Alone, the Signal Watch is but one site. Together, we are a full-on-barrage of Superman, comics and pop culture information!
Let me introduce you guys to The Kryptonian, a Super-Site from right here in sunny Austin, Texas!
Anyway, somehow I missed this, but it seems our friends at The Kryptonian recently spotlighted The Signal Watch on their site. We are completely flattered, and we want to make sure we're highlighting their work a bit more than the link we've made permanently under the Superman-related sites over there in the menu bar.
Aaron covers Superman news, manages a Super-forum, talks comics and movies and generally has put together a site we're visiting now on a daily basis. He's building a neat community, and I look forward to watching and participating in the site.
Website
Sunday, December 26, 2010
2010 Christmas Loot Wrap-Up
Anybody get their Red Ryder BB Gun with the compass in the stock and this thing which tells time?
Christmas has come and gone. I haven't fully completed my present exchanges as I haven't seen my folks and brother since Christmas Eve, and I need to catch up with my Uncle, Cousin and Cousin's daughter. We're going to do all that stuff tomorrow, I think.
Thus far, my Christmas Loot-Getting was all right on the money.
My gift from Jamie was not a surprise. I've needed a computer for a while, and in October I got the very laptop upon which I'm typing. Merry Christmas to me from Jamie.
As the field of gift-giving and givers has narrowed over the years, the odd, wacky and unexplainable loot has dwindled to the point where, these days, I no longer am left looking at a nose hair trimmer or other such assorted gifts on Christmas morning wondering "how does one even write a thnk you note for this?".
Kind of sad in a way. Those inexplicable gifts are always fun to ponder.
Also got:
So, yeah, its been festive.
Non-Corpsman MattyM spent Christmas Eve with us, and it was great having him around. A very lovely Christmas, all told.
If you have time, write in and tell me (a) one outstanding or surprising gift and/ or (b) one "WTF?" generating gift.
Christmas has come and gone. I haven't fully completed my present exchanges as I haven't seen my folks and brother since Christmas Eve, and I need to catch up with my Uncle, Cousin and Cousin's daughter. We're going to do all that stuff tomorrow, I think.
Thus far, my Christmas Loot-Getting was all right on the money.
My gift from Jamie was not a surprise. I've needed a computer for a while, and in October I got the very laptop upon which I'm typing. Merry Christmas to me from Jamie.
 |
| Superman's plot to redistribute wealth? No wonder the cape is red... |
As the field of gift-giving and givers has narrowed over the years, the odd, wacky and unexplainable loot has dwindled to the point where, these days, I no longer am left looking at a nose hair trimmer or other such assorted gifts on Christmas morning wondering "how does one even write a thnk you note for this?".
Kind of sad in a way. Those inexplicable gifts are always fun to ponder.
Also got:
- Star Trek Movie Blu-Ray set - its the first six Trek movies with Shatner and Nimoy, plus a bonus disc
- A book: Diary of a Lost Girl
- a gift certificate to Austin Books and Comics (I think I know how to use that)
- dog toys - and if you think, "oh that's for the dogs". No. Keeping dogs happy is one of my primary functions at home. I am very pleased to find dog toys in my stocking.
- A sort of electronic pen that you can hook up to your PC that will digitally record everything you write or presumably draw. Expect some experimentation to show up on this site in the near future.
So, yeah, its been festive.
Non-Corpsman MattyM spent Christmas Eve with us, and it was great having him around. A very lovely Christmas, all told.
If you have time, write in and tell me (a) one outstanding or surprising gift and/ or (b) one "WTF?" generating gift.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Signal Watch Halloween 2010 Round-Up
Hey, Signal Corps!
Hope your Hallo-weekend is going well!
I know there's been just a ton of stuff coming through the past week in honor of Halloween. Here's a quick round-up of links for your clicking pleasure!
In general:
I am afraid this review was overlooked as it posted at the same time as several other items. Since the initial posting, writer and editor Ryan Colucci has shown up in the comment section to describe the production process. Its a great addendum to the post.
Jason wanted to know if he "won" the "contest" with his Halloween submission. While this wasn't a contest, I think he's going to feel a lot better if we all just smile and nod and tell him he won, so play along, won't you?
If you have some time to kill, here's an index of all entries (and, man, we got a great turn out!) for the Halloween Monster Mash.
Posts by the Signal Corps:
I can't tell you guys how much I appreciate the participation. Its made coming back to writing a whole lot of fun. After all, the best part for me is always seeing what other people have to say. When it comes to something like "monsters", seeing your thoughts on the topic is infinitely more fun than just cranking out another post about why Superman is awesome.
Have a great Halloween!
Hope your Hallo-weekend is going well!
 |
| don't forget to carve your pumpkins this evening! |
In general:
I am afraid this review was overlooked as it posted at the same time as several other items. Since the initial posting, writer and editor Ryan Colucci has shown up in the comment section to describe the production process. Its a great addendum to the post.
 |
| rrrrrrrggghhhhhrrr!!!! |
Jason wanted to know if he "won" the "contest" with his Halloween submission. While this wasn't a contest, I think he's going to feel a lot better if we all just smile and nod and tell him he won, so play along, won't you?
If you have some time to kill, here's an index of all entries (and, man, we got a great turn out!) for the Halloween Monster Mash.
Posts by the Signal Corps:
- The Admiral - livin' large
- Steven G Harms talks monsters - "alienates" my readership
- NTT gets Monstrous - mixes his media
- JAL talks about witches
- AmyD's Monstrous picks - gets small
- Jamie's Favorite Monster - gets trashy
- Horus Kemwer - takes it international
- JimD - gettin' spooky
- The League's Favorite/ Least Favorite Part 1
- The League's Favorite/ Least Favorite Part 2
- Fantomenos - RRAAAHHHRRRR
- Mrs. Fantomenos - fears the lonely
- RHPT/ Randy! - wants brains
- Jason - klowns around
I can't tell you guys how much I appreciate the participation. Its made coming back to writing a whole lot of fun. After all, the best part for me is always seeing what other people have to say. When it comes to something like "monsters", seeing your thoughts on the topic is infinitely more fun than just cranking out another post about why Superman is awesome.
Have a great Halloween!
 |
| treat yourself to some spooky stuff this Halloween! |
The Admiral's Favorite Monster
The Admiral was visiting and mentioned the Halloween interactivity. He doesn't usually participate in our shenanigans, but he did bring up his favorite monster. In his words: You know, when you're twelve, that seems like just about the best monster possible.
At any rate, I'd say the apple doesn't fall that far from the tree.
At any rate, I'd say the apple doesn't fall that far from the tree.
 |
| How does the traffic guy on the news explain this situation? |
The League's Favorite/ Least Favorite Monsters Part 2
I thought I'd participate at the beginning with Part 1, and then come back here at the end for Part 2.
This has been remarkably difficult. 1) Some things I considered I had to get a gut-check from Jamie as to whether it actually qualified as a monster. 2) Naming your favorite monster can be like naming your favorite child. 3) I didn't really want to just name the same monsters that everyone else had named (when it comes to monsters, it is still true that variety is the spice of life).
Here's on to Part Deux:
3) The Mummy - Least Favorite
I admit this with some disappointment. I'd like to say that Karloff's performance in 1932's The Mummy was even the issue. Or that it was the "re-imagining" of The Mummy from 1999 was at fault.
Nah. Mostly, its that the iconic 1932 movie is about 90 minutes. In the first 9 minutes its archaeologists yapping at each other, then about 1.5 minutes of really great, really scary stuff, and then about 78 minutes of people yapping again and not much happening (and Karloff in a fez). There are a lot of things I'll forgive in a genre movie, but... man, when you reanimate a mummy, you kind of raise the stakes for your movie. You cannot drop the ball once you've put the undead in motion.
Here's The Mummy springing to life and one of my favorite scenes in classic horror. You can probably skip to the 2:00 mark.
Unfortunately, the rest of the movie doesn't even begin to try for this level of creepiness.
I suspect I'm the only one who has seen this movie, so: basically, after reanimating, The Mummy, Imhotep, scares the bejeezus out of a dude, then disappears for a decade only to resurface as a normal Egyptian guy that looks remarkably like Boris Karloff. Imhotep doesn't tear up Cairo. Instead, he's just sort of being pervy around a perfectly sweet girl.
But the Mummy part? With the bandages, et al.? Pretty short time frame in the movie. There's just not much in the way of straight-up monstering in this flick. Sure, Karloff gets to act a bit and deliver lines, and, frankly, the story itself is fairly creative in its abuse of Egyptian culture, lore and history, and set all kinds of precedents for genre media, right up to and including 2000's-era DC Comics, but... the original movie and its monster are just sort of odd in the cold light of day.
There's just never much happening.
That said, I still love the iconography of the movie, and I want to like horror movie mummies, but there's a reason I think they just don't pop up all that often in modern horror movies. "Slow moving guy in bandages" just doesn't read well as a good villain. Nor does "middle aged guy in a fez" read as terribly menacing. The 1999 remake featured some enhancements, making The Mummy a sort of evil wizard with all sorts of kooky magical powers and a limitless army of beetles at his command. Also: Rachel Weisz. But it also led to two bad sequels and somebody greenlighting Van Helsing.
Truly, it seems the Mummy does carry a curse.
Of the Universal Monsters, I have to rate The Mummy as sub-par. But I love that scene, and I can always hope for a new, interesting Mummy flick.
4) Ghosts/ Haunted Houses (like in 1963's The Haunting or The Shining) - favorite
I was never terrified of monsters under my bed. I did go through a brief period in second grade where I was convinced there was a headless guy with a bloody axe standing at the foot of my bed, but if I didn't come out from under the covers, he didn't know I was there.
To the point, I was mostly scared of sounds and bumps in the night that I didn't think should be there. This included this one time in 3rd grade when I was quietly playing with Star Wars figures in my room and suddenly a Batmobile rolled off the shelf and onto the floor. I still remember sprinting down the stairs.
It's not just that ghosts are things around you that you think are sharing space and you have no control over them, but that ghosts are supposedly perpetually unhappy dead people. And they are in the room with you.
I want to be clear: I'm what TAPS would call a "skeptic". Or what I would call "noises in the dark are just noises". Call me a concrete thinker, whatever.
But there's also a fight or flight mechanism built in, and its hard to ignore a billion years of evolution that tells you that when air pressure, smells or sounds suddenly change, something may be up. Folks may have once blamed things they couldn't sort out of goblins, leprechauns, and whatnot... and while a huge portion of the world no longer believes that, say, goblins run around your house when you aren't looking, we're still watching Ghost Hunters in 2010.
I get it. When Jamie and I got married we stayed at Austin's Driskill Hotel, a building rumored to have a few ghosts, I went wandering the hallway in the wee hours to go get ice. Its not too hard to see how sound traveled in that place in some deeply eerie ways (I could hear a party somewhere, as if on the floor, but I could never figure out where it was), and how people get some funky ideas, especially when they are alone.
The TV shows and movies (and almost every ghost story you stumble onto) rely on the idea of "place" as the issue at hand far more than any specific ghost/ person or personality (even The Haunting, which gets kind of specific). At the end of the day, its our knowledge that we aren't supposed to be somewhere, and the sensation that the place is pushing back. I get it. I lived in Jester Dorm for a year, and in 1994 I would have gladly told you that building was alive and breathing and trying to kill me.
While there are a dozen ghost shows on TV of people trying to prove there are ghosts (and not doing a very good job of it), I guess the question movies like The Haunting, The Shining and Poltergeist try to answer are "so what are we exactly afraid the ghosts might do if we didn't leave the room? What do we think is going to happen?"
To this day, the scariest movie I've seen was the original The Haunting.
In that movie, the ghosts are most definitely the very angry spirits of a miserable, gothic-style family, and they are loud and they are really, really mad.
At least in The Shining, the ghosts are willing to give Jack a drink...
but then the ghosts get too into it and go and pull this sort of stuff...
And its exactly that. I don't know what the heck ghosts are going to do.
By the way, yeah, The Shining was the creepiest movie I'd ever seen until The Haunting. Go figure.
I suspect the "oh, I thought maybe someone touched me in the dark" thing is pretty creepy, but its our imaginations that make this stuff really work. And when you have guys like Robert Wise and Kubrick trying to freak you out? Well, it kind of ups the ante on movies like The Mummy.
This has been remarkably difficult. 1) Some things I considered I had to get a gut-check from Jamie as to whether it actually qualified as a monster. 2) Naming your favorite monster can be like naming your favorite child. 3) I didn't really want to just name the same monsters that everyone else had named (when it comes to monsters, it is still true that variety is the spice of life).
Here's on to Part Deux:
3) The Mummy - Least Favorite
I admit this with some disappointment. I'd like to say that Karloff's performance in 1932's The Mummy was even the issue. Or that it was the "re-imagining" of The Mummy from 1999 was at fault.
 |
| this is not a Peter Murphy album cover |
Nah. Mostly, its that the iconic 1932 movie is about 90 minutes. In the first 9 minutes its archaeologists yapping at each other, then about 1.5 minutes of really great, really scary stuff, and then about 78 minutes of people yapping again and not much happening (and Karloff in a fez). There are a lot of things I'll forgive in a genre movie, but... man, when you reanimate a mummy, you kind of raise the stakes for your movie. You cannot drop the ball once you've put the undead in motion.
Here's The Mummy springing to life and one of my favorite scenes in classic horror. You can probably skip to the 2:00 mark.
Unfortunately, the rest of the movie doesn't even begin to try for this level of creepiness.
I suspect I'm the only one who has seen this movie, so: basically, after reanimating, The Mummy, Imhotep, scares the bejeezus out of a dude, then disappears for a decade only to resurface as a normal Egyptian guy that looks remarkably like Boris Karloff. Imhotep doesn't tear up Cairo. Instead, he's just sort of being pervy around a perfectly sweet girl.
 |
| "Baby, this is totally a monster movie. I think." |
There's just never much happening.
 |
| I'm Imhotep. I'll be your monster tonight... |
Truly, it seems the Mummy does carry a curse.
Of the Universal Monsters, I have to rate The Mummy as sub-par. But I love that scene, and I can always hope for a new, interesting Mummy flick.
4) Ghosts/ Haunted Houses (like in 1963's The Haunting or The Shining) - favorite
I was never terrified of monsters under my bed. I did go through a brief period in second grade where I was convinced there was a headless guy with a bloody axe standing at the foot of my bed, but if I didn't come out from under the covers, he didn't know I was there.
To the point, I was mostly scared of sounds and bumps in the night that I didn't think should be there. This included this one time in 3rd grade when I was quietly playing with Star Wars figures in my room and suddenly a Batmobile rolled off the shelf and onto the floor. I still remember sprinting down the stairs.
It's not just that ghosts are things around you that you think are sharing space and you have no control over them, but that ghosts are supposedly perpetually unhappy dead people. And they are in the room with you.
I want to be clear: I'm what TAPS would call a "skeptic". Or what I would call "noises in the dark are just noises". Call me a concrete thinker, whatever.
But there's also a fight or flight mechanism built in, and its hard to ignore a billion years of evolution that tells you that when air pressure, smells or sounds suddenly change, something may be up. Folks may have once blamed things they couldn't sort out of goblins, leprechauns, and whatnot... and while a huge portion of the world no longer believes that, say, goblins run around your house when you aren't looking, we're still watching Ghost Hunters in 2010.
I get it. When Jamie and I got married we stayed at Austin's Driskill Hotel, a building rumored to have a few ghosts, I went wandering the hallway in the wee hours to go get ice. Its not too hard to see how sound traveled in that place in some deeply eerie ways (I could hear a party somewhere, as if on the floor, but I could never figure out where it was), and how people get some funky ideas, especially when they are alone.
The TV shows and movies (and almost every ghost story you stumble onto) rely on the idea of "place" as the issue at hand far more than any specific ghost/ person or personality (even The Haunting, which gets kind of specific). At the end of the day, its our knowledge that we aren't supposed to be somewhere, and the sensation that the place is pushing back. I get it. I lived in Jester Dorm for a year, and in 1994 I would have gladly told you that building was alive and breathing and trying to kill me.
While there are a dozen ghost shows on TV of people trying to prove there are ghosts (and not doing a very good job of it), I guess the question movies like The Haunting, The Shining and Poltergeist try to answer are "so what are we exactly afraid the ghosts might do if we didn't leave the room? What do we think is going to happen?"
To this day, the scariest movie I've seen was the original The Haunting.
 |
| You can't see it, but you can hear it... |
At least in The Shining, the ghosts are willing to give Jack a drink...
 |
| Hair of the dog that bit me, Lloyd |
 |
| Hey, we were having fun here, and you ruined it. |
By the way, yeah, The Shining was the creepiest movie I'd ever seen until The Haunting. Go figure.
I suspect the "oh, I thought maybe someone touched me in the dark" thing is pretty creepy, but its our imaginations that make this stuff really work. And when you have guys like Robert Wise and Kubrick trying to freak you out? Well, it kind of ups the ante on movies like The Mummy.
 |
| that kid just loves being dead |
Friday, October 29, 2010
Steven G. Harms chimes in with his monster of choice!
Hey! Steven G. Harms has popped up from the wilds of San Francisco with his own take on monsters. As always, Steven has given the topic some thought, and I think you'll enjoy.
My Least Favorite Monster
Growing up, I was not the kind of kid who easily scared from "monsters." As I reached late adolescence and began to seek out scary movies for thrills, I remember being a bit unnerved by Freddie, Jason, Chuckie, et al., but they never really kept me up at night.
"Monsters" in this "boogey man" sense weren't the thing that scared me.
What did scare me were ALIENS. Not the kind with nesting jaws that Sigourney could bitch-slap with an exoskeleton, but these seemingly peaceful faces and unclear motivations:
The book that most directly delivered this adrenal shock was "Communion." The book's author, Whitley Strieber, tells a harrowing tale of being in his remote upstate cabin (creepy) in bed on a dark night (scarier) when he heard strange noises ("that's not a bobcat") until he saw the face of a non-human (i.e. alien) in his window!
AAAAAGGGGGGHHHHH
Aside: In a bit of quirk, Mr. Strieber refuses to call these entities "aliens" but rather prefers to denote that they are non-human and visitors. I suppose going to Streiber-con and calling the almond-eyed fellows aliens is like coming to my city of residence and calling it "'Frisco" or pronouncing that street in Austin something that is not like "Gwadaloop."
In case you don't know, "visitors" don't like hiking all the way out to our neck of the woods just to play peeping Tom to writers in cabins. Invariably they wanted to, as I recall it, communicate with Mr. Strieber and tell him about the vast world of the super-terran expanse: speak of its inhabitants, its threats (reptilian aliens), its opportunities (like Star Trek). As I recall (it's fuzzy after 22 years) there's some experimentation, some suspended animation, and some sexual manipulation (very frightening when you read this just past your decade birthday).
After reading this book I had several intense nights eyeing my window in suburban Houston. Despite the fact that it overlooked a sheer wall and was on the second story, I did not feel that spatial height or suburban sprawl were defenses against these visitors (although Win Butler of the Arcade Fire might disagree on that second point) and I had a few nervous nights pondering what I would do if I were trans-spatially peeped by these big-eyed voyeurs.
But in thinking of the Signal Watch's monster challenge, I'm intrigued by the fact that I didn't have a worst monster of the boogeyman variety. I think that's because my "monster" was nebulous in that he wasn't a proxy to a human ideal, system, or fear. Most monsters say something about the world in that they map to a world-view as a proxy. Dracula says "Beware the Hunnic bloodsman, he comes to seduce your proper (Victorian) ladies." As Lauren has reminded me often, the vampire is the polyglot, continental homme du charm, surely something to be feared. Frankenstein certainly stands in to our unnerved relationship to technology and "progress." In some way we recognize conventional "monsters" by the fact that they map to reasonable motivations that we ourselves recognize.
Communion is much more like a Lovecraft scenario: We're small, insignificant, and lucky something much larger doesn't come down an eat us. Heck, change "eat" to "drown" or "rip us apart by means of bear" and it's downright Biblical. I think this is what makes my "monster" so scary: it's a proxy to pure un-knowing, and that's very scary indeed. It doesn't map to a motivation we can readily grasp and if it were true there's nothing we could do about it.
If a vampire were on the loose, you could stake him; Frankenstein's monsters have a negative reaction to scalding oil, and even Justin Bieber will one day face the Damocles' sword of puberty. But what would we do about vastly more intelligent beings out there who can pop in as easily as a Ronco knife salesman? And what if they weren't, you know, groovy cats who wanted us to take up a vegan diet and join the commune of intelligent life?
This bifurcation was perfectly realized in the early seasons of "The X-Files." While the first season featured Boogeymen (The Jersey Devil, et al.) the addictive mythology arcs of the series focused on "others" with lack of intelligible animal motivation (e.g. black oil, the clones). Ultimately it was the questions of the realm of "pure unknowing" that carried the show through its 3rd and 4th years (and, uh, beyond, but I've blocked that out).
So, for these reasons, for being a portal to pure fear like Yog Sothoth himself, the Strieberian Grays are my least liked monster.
My Favorite Monster
As I said above, I'm not prone to being afraid of monsters. Consequently, it makes it hard to have a favorite monster. There's no evil scamp who can scare me like no other and I love (him/her) for that.
But I think I'm going to have to say it's Wolfman from "Monster Squad:" a movie I loved that I've heard tell is being re-made (more strip-mining of my childhood, hat tip Jamie Zawinski) and will, I'm sure, star Bieber and some Wil Smith-spawn. I like Wolfman not because he scared with impunity, but because of the impeccable comedic stylings that Carl Thibault expressed through him. Thibault made an "Ow my Balls!" moment work and make me laugh until I couldn't see straight.
Some members of the Corps will remember that I attended a screening of Monster Squad with JackBart this year. And, indeed, everything Steven says holds up.
My Least Favorite Monster
Growing up, I was not the kind of kid who easily scared from "monsters." As I reached late adolescence and began to seek out scary movies for thrills, I remember being a bit unnerved by Freddie, Jason, Chuckie, et al., but they never really kept me up at night.
"Monsters" in this "boogey man" sense weren't the thing that scared me.
What did scare me were ALIENS. Not the kind with nesting jaws that Sigourney could bitch-slap with an exoskeleton, but these seemingly peaceful faces and unclear motivations:
 |
| not Michael Jackson |
The book that most directly delivered this adrenal shock was "Communion." The book's author, Whitley Strieber, tells a harrowing tale of being in his remote upstate cabin (creepy) in bed on a dark night (scarier) when he heard strange noises ("that's not a bobcat") until he saw the face of a non-human (i.e. alien) in his window!
AAAAAGGGGGGHHHHH
Aside: In a bit of quirk, Mr. Strieber refuses to call these entities "aliens" but rather prefers to denote that they are non-human and visitors. I suppose going to Streiber-con and calling the almond-eyed fellows aliens is like coming to my city of residence and calling it "'Frisco" or pronouncing that street in Austin something that is not like "Gwadaloop."
In case you don't know, "visitors" don't like hiking all the way out to our neck of the woods just to play peeping Tom to writers in cabins. Invariably they wanted to, as I recall it, communicate with Mr. Strieber and tell him about the vast world of the super-terran expanse: speak of its inhabitants, its threats (reptilian aliens), its opportunities (like Star Trek). As I recall (it's fuzzy after 22 years) there's some experimentation, some suspended animation, and some sexual manipulation (very frightening when you read this just past your decade birthday).
After reading this book I had several intense nights eyeing my window in suburban Houston. Despite the fact that it overlooked a sheer wall and was on the second story, I did not feel that spatial height or suburban sprawl were defenses against these visitors (although Win Butler of the Arcade Fire might disagree on that second point) and I had a few nervous nights pondering what I would do if I were trans-spatially peeped by these big-eyed voyeurs.
But in thinking of the Signal Watch's monster challenge, I'm intrigued by the fact that I didn't have a worst monster of the boogeyman variety. I think that's because my "monster" was nebulous in that he wasn't a proxy to a human ideal, system, or fear. Most monsters say something about the world in that they map to a world-view as a proxy. Dracula says "Beware the Hunnic bloodsman, he comes to seduce your proper (Victorian) ladies." As Lauren has reminded me often, the vampire is the polyglot, continental homme du charm, surely something to be feared. Frankenstein certainly stands in to our unnerved relationship to technology and "progress." In some way we recognize conventional "monsters" by the fact that they map to reasonable motivations that we ourselves recognize.
Communion is much more like a Lovecraft scenario: We're small, insignificant, and lucky something much larger doesn't come down an eat us. Heck, change "eat" to "drown" or "rip us apart by means of bear" and it's downright Biblical. I think this is what makes my "monster" so scary: it's a proxy to pure un-knowing, and that's very scary indeed. It doesn't map to a motivation we can readily grasp and if it were true there's nothing we could do about it.
If a vampire were on the loose, you could stake him; Frankenstein's monsters have a negative reaction to scalding oil, and even Justin Bieber will one day face the Damocles' sword of puberty. But what would we do about vastly more intelligent beings out there who can pop in as easily as a Ronco knife salesman? And what if they weren't, you know, groovy cats who wanted us to take up a vegan diet and join the commune of intelligent life?
This bifurcation was perfectly realized in the early seasons of "The X-Files." While the first season featured Boogeymen (The Jersey Devil, et al.) the addictive mythology arcs of the series focused on "others" with lack of intelligible animal motivation (e.g. black oil, the clones). Ultimately it was the questions of the realm of "pure unknowing" that carried the show through its 3rd and 4th years (and, uh, beyond, but I've blocked that out).
So, for these reasons, for being a portal to pure fear like Yog Sothoth himself, the Strieberian Grays are my least liked monster.
My Favorite Monster
As I said above, I'm not prone to being afraid of monsters. Consequently, it makes it hard to have a favorite monster. There's no evil scamp who can scare me like no other and I love (him/her) for that.
But I think I'm going to have to say it's Wolfman from "Monster Squad:" a movie I loved that I've heard tell is being re-made (more strip-mining of my childhood, hat tip Jamie Zawinski) and will, I'm sure, star Bieber and some Wil Smith-spawn. I like Wolfman not because he scared with impunity, but because of the impeccable comedic stylings that Carl Thibault expressed through him. Thibault made an "Ow my Balls!" moment work and make me laugh until I couldn't see straight.
Some members of the Corps will remember that I attended a screening of Monster Squad with JackBart this year. And, indeed, everything Steven says holds up.
NTT Gets Monstrous
Hey, ya'll! NTT has pitched in! He's got a lot to say, so let's get right to it.
The watcher is dripped subtle clues as to their existence and origin. Why are they called “Angels” and given code words like Sachiel and Ramiel, actual Biblical names? Why do the Angels manifest powers just like the EVANGELIONS piloted by the human defenders?
Eventually, it is revealed that the Angels are not working towards the Earth’s destruction but are trying to reunite and rescue Adam and Lilith, the cosmic beings held captive by NERVE, the organization that manufactured the EVANGELION robotic machinery. The conspiracy is that NERVE and other associated factions revealed in the series are using the biological contents of Adam and Lilith in a highly illegal and unethical attempt to change the course of human evolution and to subjugate humanity in their vision. And this is just at the end of the second arc of the series. AND then it just gets crazy.
Neon Genesis takes its inspiration from Judeo-Christian sources and frequently uses iconography and themes from Judaism, Christianity, Gnosticism and Kabbalism, in the series's examination of religious ideas and themes. The mysterious Angels force humanity to confront its origins and in turn reveal that it is humans that are maybe the monsters, not the Angels.
3) GLaDOS (Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System) from the videogame Portal
GLaDOS is a mysterious character in the 2007 video game Portal. She is an artificially intelligent computer system in charge of operating the Aperture Science research facility, which is the setting of Portal. She intially appears as a guide to the player in your attempt to escape the facility. Yet, as you progress through the game, GLaDOS increasingly becomes erratic, her voice modulates into something more malicious and she subtly attempts to force the player into actions that either place you in great danger or forces you to make choices that will unnerve your morality.
Equal parts HAL 2000 and the girl from the Bad Seed, GLaDOS is an imperfect creature, prone to temper tantrums, fits of jealousy, wanton destruction and manifests codependency to the player. She also is given to lying and cajoling the player into performing actions for her and then has a vindictive streak when you rebel.
Your final confrontation with GLaDOS in the game is a reflection of the entire rich game experience itself. She threatens you, tempts you like Satan, tries to bribe you and manifests clear insanity as she admits to ruthlessly killing all others in the facility before you. Oh and her morality module is missing so she’s a sociopath, awkward! GLaDOS then finally attempts to kill you all the while making jokes and justifying her actions in the name of “Science!” Playing the game and your interaction with GLaDOS is akin to playing the movie the Cube or is like being a mouse in a human maze. You are manipulated and taunted by a robotic, cunning entity that talks like mild mannered nurse with the soul of Hannibal Lecter. Your final confrontation with her is a meeting of powerful anger and vengeance. One of the best characters ever, GLaDOS is truly monstrous.
Youtube LINK
2) PRISCILLA OF THE YOMA
Priscilla is the main antagonist in the great anime series Claymore, whose main character Clare attempts to confront. The setting of the anime is that demons, termed as Yoma, exist with human beings and use humanity as their prey. Yoma have greater strength, speed, and durability compared to humans. The Claymores are created by the “Organization” to fight the Yoma and protect humanity. By implanting Yoma essence into humans, they are able to create a hybrid that is faster than the source Yoma with their original human combat training and intelligence. Clare, now a fully-trained Claymore and the protagonist, has a tragic and tortured history with Priscilla since her childhood that drives the narrative of the story to its mournful conclusion.
Priscilla is one of the most powerful of the Yoma; she behaves as almost a demi-god in the series utterly devoid of empathy and a whirlwind of violence. She is so self-absorbed in her alien mind that she simply doesn’t even know what her actions are doing personally to Clare and her world. Humanity is a speck in her eye as she wreaks tragedy wherever she steps.
The end confrontation between Clare and Priscilla is steeped in nuance and suspense as each character takes her own haunted steps down their spiraling intertwined destiny.
1) GODZILLA, KING OF MONSTERS
What can be said that has not been said? Godzilla is the best and ultimate monster. Q.E.D.
As a latch-key kid, I remember walking home every day from school and WFAA-TV in Dallas Fort Worth would show “monster week” specials in the afternoon matinee. Here, I was exposed the greatness that is Godzilla, Mecha-Godzilla and King Ghidorah. I was hooked. Godzilla was the god of destruction, equal parts a monster to humanity’s nuclear science hubris and the defender of the Earth. I always thought it was incredibly humorous that Godzilla gets to wreck Tokyo but if aliens tried to invade the Earth, by golly Godzilla wasn’t going to let that happen!!
Although he has been misinterpreted many times, the essence of Godzilla is as intriguing and cool as ever; he is a force of wrath, a metaphor for humanity’s global ambitions and sin, and the vengeance of nature. Most of all, he is the KING OF MONSTERS.
My Least Favorite Monster:
1) EDWARD CULLEN, from the series Twilight Saga
Let me see…Bella is seventeen at the beginning of Twilight. Edward is at least one hundred years old, yet he stalks and seduces Bella, isolates her from her family and threatens her with violence. In the name of love. Nevermind the fact that his character is a borrowed amalgamation of Angel from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and White Wolf’s Vampire the Masquerade role-playing game. His creation and Twilight is a monstrosity.
Warning: This article contains massive spoilers in the descriptions for the works involved. If you see a title that you absolutely know you wish to watch or finish in the numbered headings, avert your eyes.
My Favorite Monsters (In descending order):
Putting together a list of my favorite monsters was a much harder task than I had originally presumed. It doesn’t help that I have through my life consumed a gigantic worth science fiction and fantasy, all of which are dripping with monstrosities from which to choose. I therefore culled my list down to those examples that expound or subvert my definitions of a monster. These are not the obvious choices but the ones that expanded my horizon of inhumanity to humanity. Or they’re just freaking cool. You decide after the list.
4). THE ANGELS from Neon Genesis Evangelion (TV Series, DVD and Movies)
Anyone who has watched Japanese anime knows that there is one series that has generated some of the most controversial arguments in Otaku culture and anime. This is that series.
Neon Genesis Evangelion is a work of supreme art and will be forever defined as the series that expanded anime’s reach to beyond entertainment and became an example of what can be achieved in the bounds of creative expression. It is a deconstruction of the “super-robot genre” or “mecha” of Japanese anime that subtly subverts the watcher over the course of the series from believing he is watching a rote action science fiction series to an intense examination of one’s place in humanity and the fragility of the human spirit. It’s complicated, obtuse, frustrating, subversive and then ultimately rewarding while shattering your expectations of genre fiction. Yes it is that good.
The ANGELS are gigantic, supremely powerful beings of cosmic origin that attack the Earth and humanity, notably Neo-Tokyo. Neon Genesis starts off like almost every other “super-robot” anime series where the Earth must be defended by a brooding adolescents that must pilot unique high technology robots of destructive power, the EVANGELIONS, against these beings and threats to the Earth.
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| Nobody move, I dropped a contact lens |
The watcher is dripped subtle clues as to their existence and origin. Why are they called “Angels” and given code words like Sachiel and Ramiel, actual Biblical names? Why do the Angels manifest powers just like the EVANGELIONS piloted by the human defenders?
Neon Genesis takes its inspiration from Judeo-Christian sources and frequently uses iconography and themes from Judaism, Christianity, Gnosticism and Kabbalism, in the series's examination of religious ideas and themes. The mysterious Angels force humanity to confront its origins and in turn reveal that it is humans that are maybe the monsters, not the Angels.
3) GLaDOS (Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System) from the videogame Portal
GLaDOS is a mysterious character in the 2007 video game Portal. She is an artificially intelligent computer system in charge of operating the Aperture Science research facility, which is the setting of Portal. She intially appears as a guide to the player in your attempt to escape the facility. Yet, as you progress through the game, GLaDOS increasingly becomes erratic, her voice modulates into something more malicious and she subtly attempts to force the player into actions that either place you in great danger or forces you to make choices that will unnerve your morality.
Equal parts HAL 2000 and the girl from the Bad Seed, GLaDOS is an imperfect creature, prone to temper tantrums, fits of jealousy, wanton destruction and manifests codependency to the player. She also is given to lying and cajoling the player into performing actions for her and then has a vindictive streak when you rebel.
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| I once had an angry Speak 'n Spell |
Youtube LINK
2) PRISCILLA OF THE YOMA
Priscilla is the main antagonist in the great anime series Claymore, whose main character Clare attempts to confront. The setting of the anime is that demons, termed as Yoma, exist with human beings and use humanity as their prey. Yoma have greater strength, speed, and durability compared to humans. The Claymores are created by the “Organization” to fight the Yoma and protect humanity. By implanting Yoma essence into humans, they are able to create a hybrid that is faster than the source Yoma with their original human combat training and intelligence. Clare, now a fully-trained Claymore and the protagonist, has a tragic and tortured history with Priscilla since her childhood that drives the narrative of the story to its mournful conclusion.
Priscilla is one of the most powerful of the Yoma; she behaves as almost a demi-god in the series utterly devoid of empathy and a whirlwind of violence. She is so self-absorbed in her alien mind that she simply doesn’t even know what her actions are doing personally to Clare and her world. Humanity is a speck in her eye as she wreaks tragedy wherever she steps.
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| Yes, I do have an enormous David Bowie collection. Why? |
The end confrontation between Clare and Priscilla is steeped in nuance and suspense as each character takes her own haunted steps down their spiraling intertwined destiny.
1) GODZILLA, KING OF MONSTERS
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| RRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAARRRGGGGHHH!!!!!!! |
What can be said that has not been said? Godzilla is the best and ultimate monster. Q.E.D.
As a latch-key kid, I remember walking home every day from school and WFAA-TV in Dallas Fort Worth would show “monster week” specials in the afternoon matinee. Here, I was exposed the greatness that is Godzilla, Mecha-Godzilla and King Ghidorah. I was hooked. Godzilla was the god of destruction, equal parts a monster to humanity’s nuclear science hubris and the defender of the Earth. I always thought it was incredibly humorous that Godzilla gets to wreck Tokyo but if aliens tried to invade the Earth, by golly Godzilla wasn’t going to let that happen!!
Although he has been misinterpreted many times, the essence of Godzilla is as intriguing and cool as ever; he is a force of wrath, a metaphor for humanity’s global ambitions and sin, and the vengeance of nature. Most of all, he is the KING OF MONSTERS.
My Least Favorite Monster:
1) EDWARD CULLEN, from the series Twilight Saga
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| So simmeringly sexy... |
Let me see…Bella is seventeen at the beginning of Twilight. Edward is at least one hundred years old, yet he stalks and seduces Bella, isolates her from her family and threatens her with violence. In the name of love. Nevermind the fact that his character is a borrowed amalgamation of Angel from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and White Wolf’s Vampire the Masquerade role-playing game. His creation and Twilight is a monstrosity.
Witches, man: JAL talks monsters
I've known JAL a long, long time. I don't know exactly when we started hanging about, but I do remember he had a lot of pictures clipped from Fangoria in his locker in middle school. I can also say our first collaboration was a 9th grade video for English class wherein we discussed different kinds of horror movie characters. I have no idea what the assignment was supposed to be about, but I do know we called it "Psychobabble".
Anyway, dude knows his scary movies. He was the first one to show me Halloween (I could not believe Jamie Lee Curtis had played a high schooler. For some reason, that was mindboggling.). In college, we saw movies together like Dead Alive and Lynch flicks. So I am, of course, thrilled that he participated. The boy knows scary flicks.
Witches - I don't think it gets any scarier. I don't like them one bit, with their incantations and eyes of newt. I think what gets me the most is that the result of their ill deeds always seems to be very much linked to the visceral. Witches seem to revel in pain, be it vomiting cherry pits or finding cameraman's teeth in a bag. No one ever when quickly under the spell of a witch and what they're doing to you is seems to come from the darker corners of imagination.
Speaking of corners, they make you to things like this, which for my buck, is one of the most unnerving images committed to film.
A few favorite witchy films
Suspiria:
The Blair Witch Project:
Halloween III:
Rosemary's Baby:
Drag Me to Hell:
On the flip-side, they also come in this form, which doesn't hurt a darn thing.
Anyway, dude knows his scary movies. He was the first one to show me Halloween (I could not believe Jamie Lee Curtis had played a high schooler. For some reason, that was mindboggling.). In college, we saw movies together like Dead Alive and Lynch flicks. So I am, of course, thrilled that he participated. The boy knows scary flicks.
Witches - I don't think it gets any scarier. I don't like them one bit, with their incantations and eyes of newt. I think what gets me the most is that the result of their ill deeds always seems to be very much linked to the visceral. Witches seem to revel in pain, be it vomiting cherry pits or finding cameraman's teeth in a bag. No one ever when quickly under the spell of a witch and what they're doing to you is seems to come from the darker corners of imagination.
Speaking of corners, they make you to things like this, which for my buck, is one of the most unnerving images committed to film.
A few favorite witchy films
Suspiria:
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| Witches have fantastic decorators... |
The Blair Witch Project:
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| ...just not this one. |
Halloween III:
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| gather round and watch the magic pumpkin |
Rosemary's Baby:
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| In the service of the dark one and lookin' fly! |
Drag Me to Hell:
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| one of the best films of 2009 |
On the flip-side, they also come in this form, which doesn't hurt a darn thing.
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