Best of 2018 so far—the May roundup
movies/tv
1428 Elm Street
Well, across the street, really. Glen was probably 1427, 1429 if it was a packed street. With bigger lots, no telling. Either way, this is about as cool as it gets: Johnny Depp getting ready for a big scene in Nightmare on Elm Street pic.twitter.com/S7qfssh2Uf — Rare Horror (@RareHorror) April 24, 2018
A Quiet, Well-Lighted Place
The Shining is great and amazing and permanent and iconic and all that good stuff, of course, but one thing it has going for it that very, very few other stories ever get is that it instantly activates our imagination—immediately upon hearing the premise, we put ourselves in that situation of being winter caretaker for
Lost Highway!
Man, how I do love this movie. Was great, getting to talk about it with Rob King. Really? I could have gone on and on on . . . https://25yearslatersite.com/2018/03/14/interview-stephen-graham-jones-a-discussion-on-lost-highway-and-mapping-the-interior/
Jaws on the Water
Hey now, somebody may have just read the moneyshot chapter of a slasher novel I just wrote: http://www.delish.com/food-news/news/a58598/jaws-open-water-viewing-this-summer/
Ready Player One
This is kind of the music-only equivalent of Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny, yes? Just got word that I can finally share my rejected theme song from @readyplayerone. They went with Alan Silvestri’s theme, but I still want to thank Steven Spielberg & @WarnerBrosEnt for the wonderful opportunity. pic.twitter.com/aK32ZOUA16 — demi adejuyigbe (@electrolemon) March
Psycho Cat
I think this will be only the second cat-related thing I’ve ever posted in all my internet years (before then, it was just leaving cat-related stuff on utility poles, I guess) (which I was a fiend for). The other is this Mapquest cat, whom I so completely identify with. This is maybe even cooler, though:
Annihilator!
Well, Annihilation. But I like saying it like a monster truck, or a wrestler. Just caught it at the cineplex. It’s a good time. Here’s some un-spoilerfree bullet points on/about it, since I don’t really have any kind of thesis to build a proper write-up around: the skull-faced anteater bear does what the bear did
Mick Garris’s Post Mortem
I dial up John Carpenter every chance I get. Whether he’s tolerating the person asking questions or not—and of course he’s good with Garris—there’s always something to learn:
Death of the Fanboy
Had this stranded in a tab for weeks, finally cued it up just now. Good stuff: http://nerdsthatgeek.com/blogs/the-death-of-the-fanboy
Sherlock #13
Season 4, episode 3, “The Final Problem.” It’s up there with X-Files‘ 3.20 / “Jose Chung’s ‘From Outer Space,” now. So amazing. Five or six pics that I think sum it up:
The Endless
Looks to be halfway between, say . . . The Void and Coherence, maybe? Either way, I’m game. Thanks to Matt Pridham for the headsup.
The Elvis Room is now a bar
Who knew, right? May have to swing by there next time I’m in Portalandia. No worries, though. “The Elvis Room” is still a ThisIsHorror chapbook, still a short film.
Best of 2017
For the first time ever, I kept a running tab of the best of every month: for January February March April May June July August September October November December It’s not everything I read/watch/listened to. Just the stuff I dug. And? I had this big idea that I’d peel back through all those, dither and
Favorite Horror Movies of 2017
Feel like I’m posting this too early, as I might get blown away by some movie X over the next five days. But I’ve got ten minutes right now, can get these down and in order, I think—with the caveat that I’ve yet to see Hounds of Love or Raw or Prevenge or Super Dark
The Last Jedi
I mean, first, yeah, loved it, clapped at the end, c’mon: of course. Best part? All the younguns in the audience laughing and talking to the screen. New hope indeed. Second, couple of good links: http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2017/12/18/the-last-jedi-a-mirror-slowly-cracking/ https://theconcourse.deadspin.com/a-list-of-some-of-the-times-the-last-jedi-told-the-olde-1821396631?
Process
This is what writing is: you throw a lot of stupid stuff at a wall, then see what sticks. And you never really understand it enough to do it like that again, and, meanwhile, people say it means this and that, and for reasons you can’t figure out, the story lasts, even though it was
File under: Costumes I Need
This is probably only funny if you grew up watching Perfect Strangers—”Perfect Stranger Things” feels like a Jeopardy! question to a mashup answer—but never mind all that. What matters here? This costume. I wonder how that face petals opens like that? Animatronic? Air? I mean, the spindly fingers are useless, but so what. And I
So cool
This shot of Bruce the shark about to eat little Alex Kintner in #JAWS was cut from the film. pic.twitter.com/TpFXQAsn7Y — Stan Winston School (@SWinstonSchool) November 7, 2017
The Midnight Coterie of Sinister Intruders
Home invasion done the Wes Anderson way. I’d somehow missed this, until the SNL Halloween special. Can’t embed the video, but I can link it, anyway.
The Elvis Room at Bloody Disgusting
Thanks to Andrew Schwarz for taking the story, making a short film from it. WORLD OF DEATH Ep. 126.5 – The Elvis Room
Halloweenie Flicks
Say it’s four days before Halloween, and you want to cue up some Halloween happiness, kind of sample across the subgenres, try out two or three different tones. Here’s what I rec: Murder Party https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qI_DqgxNR7U My favorite horror is always closed-door horror, And Then There Were None style. This isn’t quite as twisty as Agatha