Power outage begets dead cable modem begets having to drive to the Time Warner building to get a replacement. So don’t expect much in the way of blogging today…
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December 28th, 2012Godzilla Christmas Tree
December 25th, 2012The search for the coolest Christmas tree is officially over. You’re never going to beat the giant, fire-breathing Godzilla Christmas tree of Aqua City Odaiba shopping mall in Tokyo.
Merry Christmas!
Rare Exports: A Weird Christmas Horror Movie
December 24th, 2012In his tomb in upthrust Lapland
Dead Kris Kringle lies dreaming
If you’re looking for a weird Christmas horror movie, you could do a lot worse than the Finnish movie Rare Exports. The son of a reindeer herder/butcher finds out that a team just over the border in Russia are drilling into a mountain they believe to be a tomb.
It quickly becomes apparent that the tomb is that of Santa Claus. And the real Santa Claus is not the jolly fellow of Coke commercials, but a fearsome punisher of the wicked that looks a lot more like Krampus:
What makes the film work is its cold, gritty, unsentimental realism. It really does look like it was filmed in a tiny village in Ass End of Nowhere, Finland. Save an unconvincing CGI helicopter at the end, and the strange coda that gives the film its name, I thought everything about the movie worked pretty well. Of recent Scandinavian horror films, I thought this worked better than Dead Snow, but not as good as Let the Right One In.
Worth viewing, and available on Netflix.
I was going to do a longer review, but I’m running out of Christmas.
Random Thoughts on Watching Evil of Frankenstein
December 23rd, 2012Watching Hammer Film’s 1964 Evil of Frankenstein, several thoughts occurred to me:
Shoegazer Sunday: Ride’s “Beneath”
December 23rd, 2012Here’s “Beneath,” a nice, melodic song from classic shoegazers Ride:
Galadriel As You’ve Never Seen Her Him Before
December 19th, 2012
Earlier this year, science fiction writer and North Carolina State University professor John Kessel declared that “I know the world does not care, but nobody could pay me enough money to go see The Hobbit. Well, maybe someone could, but nobody is going to.”
The Internet knows how to respond to such statements.
Soon a fundraiser for the SFWA Emergency Medical fund was launched, with various levels of funding support:
$250 — Prof. Kessel goes to see The Hobbit (the upcoming Peter Jackson version, in a movie theater before the end of the year, no cop-out home screenings of the Bass-Rankin animated classic)
$750 — Prof. Kessel will either before or after the film eat Denny’s The Hobbit-themed Ring Burger
$1000 — Prof. Kessel will dress as Gandalf when watching the film
$2500 — Prof. Kessel will dress as Galadriel when watching the film
And the result?
Well, feast your eyes:
The last picture is with John’s “Hobbit escort” Kate Maddalena, who took these pictures.
Click any picture to embiggen and more fully display all of John Kessel as Galadriel’s, um, glory.
If you’re impressed by this outstanding display of selflessness (or else you have a fetish for really tall, butch trannies), you too can donate to the SFWA Medical Fund.
You might also pick up one of John’s swell books, like Good News From Outer Space, Corrupting Dr. Nice, or his short story collection The Pure Product.
(And thanks to John and Kate Maddalena for permission to use these photos.)
Howard Waldrop and I Review The Hobbit
December 17th, 2012I liked it more than Howard did.
Shoegazer Sunday: Echodrone’s “Cold Snap”
December 16th, 2012Busy week. Here’s more Echodrone, this time with “Cold Snap,” which is pleasantly haunting.
Their Bon Voyage is starting to sound like a good candidate for Shoegazer album of the year. Any others you can suggest?
First Pacific Rim Trailer Drops
December 13th, 2012The first trailer for Pacific Rim, Guillermo del Toro’s kaiju vs. giant mechs film, is out.
Oh yeah. I’m there.
Howard Waldrop and I have signed up to review this next year.
Finally! Gene Wolfe Named Grandmaster!
December 13th, 2012In a well-earned and long-overdue honor, SFWA has finally named Gene Wolfe a Nebula Grandmaster.
Congratulations to Gene for a lifetime of great work, and to SFWA for getting this one right.
(Hat tip: SF Signal.)