Light and Fluffy Post
Taking a step away from posts dealing with the obsessive stalker and the just-as-fucked-up American political situation, I’ve decided that it’s long past time for a light, fluffy post.
Laura and I went to see Van Helsing yesterday, and I’m pleased to report that the film benefitted greatly from the fact that I heard so many reviews trashing it before I finally decided that my love of old monster movies was strong enough to merit plunking down the cash for a matinee. Not only was the film NOT as awful as I’d heard, but so many bad reviews had lowered my expectations that I actually enjoyed the film quite a bit. It’s cheesey, to be sure…but then again, so were the Universal monster movies of the 30s-50s, and the Hammer films of the 60s and 70s, and I love those. Sure, it takes liberties with the legends. Who cares? Sure, it has groan-worthy action-extravaganza moments. That’s what we go to “Summer Blockbusters” for, after all….put-your-brain-on-hold, pulse-pounding entertainment. As the film ended, I realized that I wanted to see more adventures of Van Helsing and Carl…surely the sign of a successful attempt to entertain. Also: from a gaming standpoint, Van Helsing’s Vatican-backed organization is the perfect framework for a monster-hunting RPG campaign. (I’d use the classic first-edition CHILL from Pacesetter)
In other Horror news, The Dastardly Best Friend gave me a pile of 70s Marvel horror comics that he was looking to get rid of (the big magazine-sized ones, with the moody black-and-white artwork), and so I’ve been reading issues of DRACULA LIVES!, VAMPIRE TALES, TOMB OF DRACULA and others. Fun stuff.
I’ve been busy converting select CDs from my collection into MP3s for my iTunes, so that I can listen while I work (because getting up and walking the 5 feet over to my stereo is such a chore, after all. It’s much easier to just click on my iMac. :) ) My 80s singles collections (stuff from the “Living in Oblivion” “Greatest New Wave Hits” and other collections) alone now give me the opportunity to listen to 13 straight hours of New Wave goodness….and that’s not counting the full albums that I ripped, either (the complete Duran Duran catalogue spans another 10 hours, for example). It’s not at all surprising to note that most of my favorite singles and albums come from my high school years (84-87). Pretty much textbook mid-30s nostalgia (I turn 35 in a few weeks).
Back to work….