September Round-Up - 2012

Oy, once again, having to actually WORK for a living is putting a damper on my blogging duties. So let's just pretend it's Halloween again. Woo! Candy! Tricks! Costumes!


Aaaand, September!

(And as an aside, I really really hate the new Blogger set-up. Blame it for why this post looks crappy. I tried and tried to fix it, and it was an exercise in sheer frustration.)

Movies Seen: Six, with three in a theater. Click through to read reviews of two of those.

Trouble With the Curve
Looper

Books Read: Four. Click through to read brief reviews.

Making of the Misfits by James Goode 
 

The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker 
 

The Cranes Dance by Meg Howrey
 

When It Happens To You by Molly Ringwald    

Fancy Dinners Out: Six! 

Deviled eggs and BBQ shrimp at the Elite Cafe. 

Two dinners at La Traviata.   

Mac and cheese and steak frites at Grand Cafe.   

More steak at Forbes Island.   

Calamari steak at Tadich Grill.   

And, this wasn't fancy, but they sure made you wait around like it was something fancy, mac and cheese at Homeroom in Oakland.   

Live Shows Seen: None!    

Shoes Bought: One pair. Black ballet flats at H&M that I had to get because the shoes I wore to work that day tore my feet up.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 31

We made it! Happy Halloween, everybody!

Thanks to Countdown to Halloween for putting together this little blogathon every year, and thanks to all the people who came a knocking at my virtual door looking for treats. I hope you enjoyed it.

If you haven't already, be sure to check out the list of other blogs that have participated this year, as there's a lot of fun to be had out there.

As for today's picks, of course the first one has to be It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, which is on ABC tonight at 8 P.M. Halloween just isn't Halloween without a visit from that nutcase Linus.

I also have to watch Halloween every year, although it's kind of a bummer that the only place to watch it on TV is AMC today at 4pm, as it's not letterboxed and will be edited for content...

It is available on YouTube in parts, though...



Finally, TCM is, once again, the place to be if you can't be bothered to change the channel, as they've got a full line-up of fun. Check out the full schedule here, but my pick would be Frankenstein at 5pm. Can't do much better than that on a Halloween night!



Have a great time, be safe, and I hope to see you all again next year!

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 30

David Cronenberg's 1986 remake of The Fly is one of the best horror/sci-fi movies ever made. It's equal parts horrifying, funny, and touching (yes, touching; I think the ending is quite sad!). And it's also one of Jeff Goldblum's best performances ever. He was robbed of an Oscar nomination. Robbed I tell ya!

Watch it at 9pm on Sundance.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 29

There are many reasons to watch Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein, but this scene is probably one of the biggest reasons.

Two words: Gene Hackman.

Watch the whole movie at 7:05pm on Retroplex.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 28

When it comes to Phantoms, I prefer the non-singing ones to the singing ones. In fact, if they don't talk at all? So much the better.

Thus 1925's silent classic The Phantom of the Opera, starring Lon Chaney, remains the best of the Phantoms. Watch it at 10pm on TCM, or right here, right now!

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 27

The late 1960s and early 1970s saw the release of several horror movies starring aging actresses as nutcases. A lot of these had questions as titles, like the most famous, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, but there was also, Who Slew Auntie Roo?; Whatever Happened to Aunt Alice?; and Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte.

There was also tonight's film, What's the Matter With Helen?, starring Debbie Reynolds and Shelley Winters, as two women who...actually, I won't say anything. Just watch the trailer. It's NUTS.

Watch the movie at 9pm on TCM.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 26

Gimmick king William Castle's first foray into the horror genre was the 1958 suspense tale Macabre, about the kidnapping of a doctor's daughter and a race against time to find the girl before she suffocates. Audience members were issued a $1,000.00 insurance policy against death-by-fright, which in itself sounds like a good starting plot for a horror movie!

Watch it late, late tonight at 1:45am on TCM.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 25

I'm kind of over the whole demonic possession genre at this point, but this one stars Donald Sutherland and Sissy Spacek, so I think it at least deserves some consideration. Also, it isn't a mockumentary, which is another horror subgenre I've just about seen enough of.

You can watch An American Haunting at 10:15pm on IFC.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 24

Basically, you can just leave it on Turner Classic Movies tonight, as they're running a marathon of Edgar Allan Poe-inspired movies, starting with The Raven (1963) at 5pm, followed by Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932), a 6:45pm; The Black Cat (1934), at 8pm; The Fall of the House of Usher (1949), at 9:30pm; the aforementioned animated short, The Tell-Tale Heart, at 10:45pm; and my personal pick, Spirits of the Dead, at 11:15pm.

Of that last one, which is a 1968 trilogy of short films, directed by Roger Vadim, Louis Malle, and Federico Fellini, it's the Fellini one--titled "Toby Dammit," that is really worth watching. I saw it as a kid, and it scarred me for life, instilling in me a lifelong fear of driving over bridges in convertibles, girls with long blond hair, and bouncing white balls.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 23

I usually like to save my inclusion of Night of the Living Dead for Halloween night, or the week of. It's kind of like my Halloween version of It's a Wonderful Life, in that it's one of those "I can only watch this once a year, right before the holiday" movies.

Of course, that's where the similarities end, because I don't usually end up crying my eyes out when I watch Night.

And great, now I'm thinking about an It's a Night of Your Wonderful Dead mash-up/remake, and whether or not that would end with me in tears.

ANYWAY, you can watch the original Night of the Living Dead today at 1pm on IFC.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 22

Hey, remember this one? I forgot Scarlett Johansson was in it. And I forgot the title is grammatically incorrect, unless the movie is actually about eight freaks with legs, in which case, I forgot about that, too.

Eight Legged Freaks is on AMC at 5:30pm.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 21

At 8:51pm, TCM will air the 1953 animated short "The Tell-Tale Heart," a little seen, but really cool version of the Poe story, narrated by James Mason. (Swoon, that voice!)

You can wait till tonight to watch it...Or you can watch it right here, right now!

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 20

Hitchcock is all the rage.

I don't mean the films of Hitchcock. I mean the man himself. Or at least some less than appealing stories about the man.

One of those stories can be found in The Girl, which premieres tonight on HBO. This movie is based on a book by Donald Spoto (who wrote one really great book about Hitchcock's movies, and then turned around and wrote a couple of hatchet jobs about Hitchcock, the man).



For fun, here's a look at the trailer for Hitchcock, which will be a theatrical release, and stars Anthony Hopkins as Hitchcock. Frankly, it looks to be the better movie...

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 19

Whoops! Seems I lost a post somewhere this week, and I can't remember what my pick for today was.

But a quick perusal of TV Guide reveals a movie called Mulberry Street on IFC tonight at 11:45pm. And the movie sounds A LOT like REC (and therefore, also lot like the movie Quarantine). Like, a lot a lot. But maybe I'm wrong about that?

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 18

Remember when Japanese horror movies were all the rage? What happened there? Did America just grow tired of creepy little girls, or women whose faces are covered by long hair? Or did all the American remakes of those movies just kill the whole thing dead?

Ju-on was one of the most influential of those Japanese horror movies, and was, indeed remade in 2004 as The Grudge, starring Sarah Michelle Geller. But it's the Japanese version you can watch tonight at midnight on Sundance.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 17

Rosemary's Baby is one of my all-time favorite movies, period. That it also happens to be a horror movie is just an added bonus. Seriously, I could watch it every day and never be bored by it.

Apparently, this is a rare first trailer for the movie. I just can't imagine this ever making it to theaters; it's downright psychedelic!




This is the much more conventional trailer:




It's on AMC at 9am, which is actually kind of a shame, since they air a ridiculous number of commercials during movies. But that's what DVRs are for, right?

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 16

Corridors of Blood has a gory title, but is actually not all that horrifying, at least in the monsters and blood-shedding sense.

Boris Karloff stars as a 19th century surgeon experimenting with anesthesia, who finds himself dealing with a drug addiction, a murder, and blackmail. Christopher Lee is one of the bad guys.

Watch it at 4:30am on AMC

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 15

I suppose the premise of the 2009 Norwegian horror movie Dead Snow can be summed up in two words: Nazi zombies. The language of visceral terror is universal!

But maybe it should be summed up in three words: Cold Nazi zombies.



Watch it at 3am and 9am on IFC.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 14

The Descent is one of the better horror movies to come out within the past ten years, even if the viewing of it, was, for me, one of my worst days at the movies ever.

But I don't want to go into that! The Descent! Scary cave monsters! Strong women! A kind-of-disappointing ending! The Descent!

It's on IFC at 5pm and 11:15pm.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 13

Evil Dead 2, y'all. I really shouldn't have to say much more than that, right?



You can watch the movie on IFC at 7:15pm and 11:15pm.

As an added bonus, here's an episode of the British series "The Incredibly Strange Film Show", which aired in the U.S. sometime in the 1990s, featuring interviews with Bruce Cambpbell and Sam Raimi. It's pretty funny.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 12

I just read a book called Rabid: A Cultural History of Rabies, so of course it brought to mind the movie and book Cujo, about a rabid great dane.

I read Cujo the book as a pre-teen, and went to see the movie with my parents in 1983, (I think whilst on summer vacation), and it's kind of weird to even classify it as a horror movie, because it's really more of a thriller, or at least closer to real-life horror than your typical horror movie tends to be.

It's also a hard movie to watch, as it's totally gut-wrenching, and also makes you realize, since the invention of the cell phone, its whole scenario is most likely something that would never happen today. (Unless, of course, the phone battery dies, or you just plain forget to bring it along on the day you have a run in with a rabid dog.)

It's on AMC at 6pm.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 11

For years I've wanted to be Baby Jane from Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? for Halloween, and push around a friend in a wheelchair as my sister, Blanche. Alas, it won't be happening this year, but I have high hopes that it will happen one day. (And preferably before I am as old as Bette Davis was when she was in the movie!)

Here's one of those "making of" types of trailers...



And the best line in the movie...



Watch the whole thing at 7:30pm on TCM!

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 10

When you get right down to the brass tacks, you'll realize there really aren't that many great vampire movies out there. For whatever reason, that's one monster that's tough to get right, (and yes, I think Twilight is one of the wrong ones).

Near Dark, which came out in 1987, and basically stars everyone from Aliens--minus Sigourney Weaver, and plus Adrian Pasdar--is one of those rare good vampire movies, and you can watch it at 1pm on IFC.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 9

Today's pick is going up early, because the movie is airing early this morning.

It's 1941's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, starring Spencer Tracy as the Dr. (and the Mr.), and Ingrid Bergman and Lana Turner as the Madonna and Whore in his life. And if you think it's obvious that Lana Turner would play the sexual one, and Ingrid Bergman the virgin, you're way off. And that's why the movie is kind of brilliant.

It's also brilliant because of the following hallucination scene...



Watch it at 6:45am on TCM.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 8

I think, for some reason, I actually went to see today's pick in a movie theater, though I have no memory of the event, or of the movie for that matter.

The movie is Cursed, and it's about teenage werewolves. Being that it came out in 2005, it was a little ahead of its time, at least in terms of the Twilight craze.

My seeing it in a theater probably had something to do with the fact that it was directed by Wes Craven, and written by Kevin Williamson, and being that they had a big hit with that first Scream movie, perhaps expectations were high.

I believe those expectations were not me, however. Alas.

Watch it at IFC at 5 P.M.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 7

Trick 'r Treat is a movie I kind of stumbled upon, getting it from Netflix after putting it in my queue for reasons I can't really remember since it was a direct-to-DVD release, so didn't have much buzz.

It turned out to be surprisingly good, and a lot like Creepshow, in that it's an anthology of sorts, and filled with black humor.

It's showing on Logo, which is just weird, and I can't attest to that network's practices when it comes to editing for content, so I would of course advise a rental of some sorts as a first choice. But if you don't choose that route it's on at 5:30pm.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 6

The Exorcist tends to go on most people's lists of top ten scariest horror movies, but I have to admit, I never found the movie that scary. Disturbing, yes. Spooky, yes. But it never really haunted my dreams.

Maybe that's because I didn't have a religious upbringing, so it's not taping into any residual trauma such an upbringing can sometimes result in.

Or maybe I just don't fine pea soup that horrifying.

I WILL say this, though. The hospital scenes made me terrified of getting x-rays, which was not a good thing since I ended up having to get a lot at a young age. So let me reassure anyone with the same fears: X-rays are not scary.

MRIs on the other hand...hoo-boy!

(Just kidding. They aren't scary either. Just intensely annoying.)

Watch it at 5pm on IFC.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 5

Let's Scare Jessica To Death is one of those weird 1970s horror movies that's more a psychological thriller than something truly horrorific. Unless bad 70's clothing and hairdos send you over the edge, of course.

It's on TCM at 1:15am tonight, which is technically tomorrow, but whatever. You can watch it then, or watch it over on YouTube right now!

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 4

I saw Videodrome when it was released in 1983, and I don't think thirteen was the best age to see it. Granted, I had seen a lot of weird horror movies by that point, but Videodrome is something else, and its inherent...sleaziness was just off-putting at the time. And because of that early dislike, I think I only ever watched it once more in ensuing years.

I'm gonna try and watch it again tonight at 11:10pm on Indieplex. Perhaps it will come off better when viewed with adult eyes...

Musty TV's Manical Movie Countdown - Day 3

Mystery of the Wax Museum isn't the one in 3D featuring Vincent Price and a paddle-ball. Instead, it's the original version that movie was based on. Released in 1933, it was also one of the first Technicolor movies, which at the time was just two colors. Lionel Atwill and Fay Wray star.

You can watch it at 5pm on TCM, or right here right now!

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 2

One of my favorite horror movies when I was a pre-teen was Creepshow, (and I will be talking about my experience seeing it for the first time over on my other blog Mulling Movies next month), and I've come back to it a lot over the years.

Of course, it being an anthology movie, I liked some of the stories better than others. I'd say order of preference is probably:

1) "The Crate" ("Just call me Billie, everybody does!")

2) "Father's Day" ("I want my cake!")

3) "Something to Tide You Over" ("You'd better hold your breath!")

4) "They're Creeping Up On You" ("What's the matter, Mr. Pratt? Bugs got your tongue?")

5) "The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill" ("Meteor shit!")

Watch it on IFC at 5pm and 9:30pm.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 1

Welcome! Day one! Halloween! Woo!

I will admit I had never heard of the movie Tooth & Nail until this very moment. And I will also admit I am only listing it here because it stars Michael Madsen, and usually--usually--that's enough for me. Although in this case, I'm not so sure.

It's post-apocalyptic, and includes cannibals, and a mute little girl. In other words, not exactly the most original story ever told...

Watch it at 11pm on IFC.