The Haunting Hour

I have been a long time fan of R.L. Stine. I used to read Goosebumps all the time and my brother had all the Fear Street books. I also have some of the books he wrote for the Goosebumps group who grew up. I got him to sign one of them too at some mystery book store in Burbank. He wrote a line in almost every book that will always follow me: I opened my mouth to scream, but nothing came out. Every book I read has a similar line in it and therefore R.L. Stine will haunt me for the rest of my life. Anyway, I digress. R.L. Stine has a new TV show coming out called The Haunting Hour. He had an awful Canadian show based on his Goosebumps books so I can only hope this show is better. It will be on the Hub TV channel and will be geared towards kids. The show premieres on Christmas Day with 2 episodes. If I had that channel, I would totally watch the show!

Someone asked R.L. why his storylines and other storylines with zombies and vampires were so popular and he had an interesting explanation:

I think the world is a really scary place, for real. And I think whenever the world becomes a really scary place, this kind of horror fantasy becomes more popular because it’s an escape. It’s sort of an attempt to deal with horrors where you know you can close the book at any time. You know you’re not going to lose. You know you’re safe. It’s one reason why everyone likes it. Every age, people like scary stories, because it’s a way to face fears and know you’re safe at the same time.

That’s very true and also why I love reading his stories. He scares me, but not too much to where I can’t sleep, but just enough to give me shivers. Here’s a little taste of his new show.

Weekend Movie - Buried

I had mentioned a million years ago that I wanted to see the movie Buried. I finally got to see it on Friday night because it showed up at the Red Box near my apartment. I'm so glad I didn't see this movie in theatres. It was very intense and I kind of wanted to throw things. Ryan Reynolds is the only person seen during the entire movie. There are 21 other actors, but they're all only heard over the cell phone he's left with.

As I've mentioned before, I love psychological thrillers, but I don't think this one falls under that category. Yeah, it was a thriller and it may have been psychological because Ryan was trapped in a box with a few essentials to try to escape, but I don't think there was enough thriller. Yes, he's faced with different challenges such as a snake finding it's way into the coffin he's trapped in and the battery to his cell phone running out, but that's not really enough for me. I don't want to give too much away, but I didn't like the ending. It could only have gone one of two ways: they find him and he lives or they don't and he dies. I don't want to tell you which ending they chose, but now that I think about I don't think I would have liked either ending. They're both so basic and whatever. I think he should have found a way to get himself out or something. The premise was all too basic.

As for the filming, it was cool. I read on IMDB that they used 7 different coffins. Obviously, each coffin used had a different side taken out so they could film. Ryan Reynolds did a good job. I mean it has to be hard to act to someone over the phone while laying on your back the entire time.

I'm glad I got the movie for free with a Red Box gift card because it just wasn't worth much more. I guess that's why it didn't stay in theatres for too long.

Monday Night Movie - Black Swan

Ok, I did it. I saw Black Swan last night and all I have to say is AMAZING!!!! I think this movie is my new favorite psychological thriller. The script is so well written and the acting is so amazing. I heard this morning on the radio that the movie, Natalie Portman, and the director are all nominated for Golden Globes and they better win dammit! I've never been a big fan of Natalie Portman and I never knew why, but she is so incredible in this movie. It's so rare to see actors like her. The character arch she has to go through is just incredible. She goes from a soft spoken girl to a very edgy, hardcore person.

Also, who knew Winona Rider was in this movie? Her name/face was never in any previews. Her part was small, but she still could have been shown in a preview or two.

The story is basically a story within a story. A ballet company in New York is putting on Swan Lake of course and Natalie Portman's character, Nina tries out for the role of Swan Queen who plays both the white and black swan, which is not normal for this show. Normally, there are 2 different dancers portraying each role. The director thinks Nina has what it takes to be the white swan, but doesn't think she's edgy enough to play the black swan and Nina is on a mission to prove him wrong. Nina takes her character on a little too much and it all kind of spirals from there. Sooooo good!!!! Mila Kunis is pretty amazing as well. I think she could really go far if she sticks with roles like this. She plays the cool dancer friend.

The movie gets pretty gruesome at some points. There's more blood than I realized there would be and there's a lot of sexual stuff. In order to get Nina to feel something, the director of the show kind of forces her into sexual moments. After the movie ended, I seriously wanted to run home. I was so pumped. So if you're in the mood for artsy awesomeness, this movie is for you. If you squirm at the sight of blood, vomit and/or shaky camera angles, than maybe you should just live vicariously through me.

Thrill Me

I pass the Seeley's Furniture building twice a day. It's a building that has been around for quite some time and has become famous. It's in a location where no one can miss it. At night, the sign lights up and can be seen from quite a distance. Even though the furniture store no longer exists, the building still stands and has become a landmark. Apparently, a lot of filming goes on in the building. If you pass the building and look close enough, you can see signs with information on how to rent out the space for filming. Also, if you're that close, you can see how utterly creepy the inside looks. If I were a filmmaker, I would definitely use the building to house my horror or thriller movie. So every time I pass this building, I'm reminded of the movie Session 9. Unless you're a film school student, I highly doubt you would know this movie and I only know it because my brother went to film school and it was sitting on the coffee table in our living room for some time when I was in high school. I was bored one day and decided that I should watch it out of sheer curiosity.

The front of the DVD case shows this chair in the middle of a run down room. At the time, I didn't understand the movie and I recall it being kind of weird, but the Seeley's building made me want to watch it again.

The movie is a thriller about this team hired to clean out an insane asylum because it's covered in asbestos. Of course things start to happen. The job is supposed to take 3 weeks, but the asbestos company really needs the money so they claim the job can be done in one week and charge a higher price. One of the workers finds a box of tapes with a reel to reel tape player and starts listening to therapy sessions with one of the past patience from the hospital who had multiple personalities. The movie is called Session 9 because it takes a turn for the worst when the session 9 tape begins to play. Kind of scary. I was watching the movie in broad day light with people around and I still got chills. Some will say the movie is kind of cheesy, but because it takes place in an abandoned insane asylum, it's no longer cheesy to me. This is definitely one of those movies that needs to be watched in the day light with a Disney movie as a chaser. During the playing of these session tapes, you find out about the asbestos workers, especially the boss and it all kind of goes from there. So if you're in the mood, I recommend sitting down and opening your mind to an independent thriller.