Monday, October 05, 2009

Monday Odds & Ends: zombies, 2012, Darth Vader in a clown car, Legos and Stephen King

+ So it looks like "Zombieland" ruled the cinematic roost this past weekend...and to mark the occasion, here's a (spoiler-filled) interview with Jesse Eisenberg and Woody Harrelson. I didn't get a chance to see it but I heard good things. Did any of you check it out? What did you think?

+ Hey, here's a five-minute trailer for Roland Emmerich's "2012." I like the part where this blogger talks about how the next trailer should show character development so audiences won't think this is just a piece of CGI candy. Of course it's just a piece of CGI candy! That's the ugly beauty of any good Emmerich movie. He's our generation's Irwin Allen...and God knows, "Poseidon Adventure" could have used way less character development. (I'm looking at you, Ernest Borgnine's cop and his prostitute wife.)

+ This past weekend, Darth Vader was rescued by R2-D2's car. No, seriously.

+ Looking for some scary reading? Let me send you my bank statement! Ha, ha, no...I jest. Let's try that again. Looking for some scary reading? Here's a list of the 10 most frightening Stephen King novel. "Pet Sematary" lands at the top of my list simply for the way cemetary is spelled. Oh well, no one ever said undead animals could spell. P.S. My scariest King novel was "The Stand." Couldn't finish it. What about you?

+ In sad news today, James May's Lego House couldn't be saved and has been dismantled. The one silver lining? The millions of bricks used to build it will go to Legoland where they'll be used in their annual build competitions in support of autism research. Thanks, Emily, for the link.

+ USA Today has a nifty interview with cartoonist Berke Breathed, marking the 30th anniversary of my favorite comic strip of all time, "Bloom County." I still miss you, Bill the Cat!

+ You know how awesome watching TV is? You know what would make it even more awesome? A magic wand that could change your channels. And a clone of Rupert Grint to bring you snacks. That latter bit is still a ways off though.

14 comments:

Melby said...

Did you not read Pet Sematary?? It's spelled that way because it was made by children, and it was an awesome touch he threw in. I think Misery would probably be near the top of my list in terms of sheer horror, that book had me cringing like mad, especially with the leg...eesh. That combined with how disturbing she was and how horrific it would be to not only be held hostage by your "biggest fan" but a totally beyond psycho one, at that. Pretty much all his books are favorites, though.

cjp said...

Defintely "The Stand" for me, too. I was in grade 6 when I read it and didn't sleep again until high school.

Sarah said...

I loved The Stand, actually. It's my favorite King novel. However, Dreamcatcher made me afraid to go to the bathroom for a week, and I was 23 when I read it.

Sara Jo said...

I got to see an advance screening of Zombieland last week. It made me happy happy happy. I'm going to see it again tomorrow.

Anonymous said...

So the Lego House belongs to Captain Slow? I thought I recognized the name. BTW, for those who like all things English, check him out over at Top Gear (youtube has loads of videos). Funny, irreverent and well worth watching.

Carly said...

I got out to see Zombieland this past weekend and it's definitely worth your money. Puts a smile on your face and there is some excellent zombie slayage.

Olivia R. Burton said...

I'm adding another cheer for Zombieland. I saw it at a screening in September and it was amazing! I laughed the whole way through.

Anonymous said...

The Stand was the only book that even came close to being "frightnening" for me. I love Stephen King but none of them made it hard for me to go to sleep or anything like that.

shirley2allie said...

I've read The Stand at least twice and still love it. Insomnia was totally awesome, too. Scariest for me would have to be Pet Sematary, Salem's Lot, Misery and Gerald's Game. The latter came out when I was pregnant with my daughter and for some reason just totally creeped me out... Oh, Rose Madder was creepy, too. I haven't read anything of his in yonks, though, so I couldn't speak to any of the more recent books.

shelleycoughlin said...

Scariest Stephen King novel: hands down, It. I had to keep the book in the other room when I went to sleep at night so Tim Curry's face couldn't haunt my dreams.

B.J. said...

I'm actually disappointed in the Stephen King list. I hold that "Gerald's Game" is one of the poorest written, boring, inane novels the man has ever written. It was terrible. The concept in and of itself is terrific, but its execution was just miserable.

And I'd actually add "Duma Key" to the list. "Duma" is the first book of his to *ever* make me stop reading in the middle of the night and do something else because being alone in my house was too creepy. Even "It" and "The Shining" couldn't do that.

Anonymous said...

I haven't read anything of King's in donkey's years, but I do remember that It scared the crap out of me--mostly because I was reading in a house by myself, at night, in the middle of feezing cold January, while listening to the b-side of David Bowie's "Heroes" (the album, not the single). If you've never heard it, it's mostly weird instrumentals that he recorded with Brian Eno while recovering from from drug addiction in Berlin. Yeah, you can pretty much imagine what it sounds like. NOT the kind of thing you want to be listening to while reading Stephen King alone at night in the winter. LOL!!

The only other time I ever scared myself that badly was when I decided to have an X-Files marathon at night, by myself, in my apartment, which was in a converted old 1850s building. There I was, sitting on my couch, too paralyzed to get up and move... and I realized I'd left the door to the attic open. (!!!!)

Unknown said...

Another cheer for Zombieland! I saw it over the weekend and plan to see it again soon.

One of the scariest Stephen King novels for me was "Cell," just because you can almost see it actually happening. Completely made me rethink having my phone for a wee bit. "Needful Things" was another really good one.

Roscoe said...

How much did I love "Bloom County" and Bill the Cat? My icon is a picture of my most treasured personal possession -- he's been everywhere with me since 1988.