xNLx

Continuing from where I left off. This also doubles as a recommendation list.


G-H

-The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: GE; absolute favourite of all time movie, never ever get rid of

-Grandma's Boy: Funny stoner comedy; keep

-Hard Candy: Suspenseful pedophile gets his just desserts movie; Slade is doing 30 Days of Night, so its a keep

-Hellboy: Cool comic adaptation; may upgrade to the special edition, keep for now

-The Hills Have Eyes: Cool remake; keep, but never buy the sequel

-The Hitcher: Not too bad remake with Sean Bean; its got probably just one more viewing left in it

-The Hitchicker's Guide to the Galaxy: Fun movie, never read the books; not long for the shelf

-Hollywoodland: Investigating the first Superman; keep for now


I-J-K

-The Iron Giant: Brad Bird's masterpeice; great animation, keep

-Jacob's Ladder: Only horror movie that still scares me; unless a better edition happens, keep

-Kino's Journey: Not too well known anime; one of the few I really like

-Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang: Film noir; alright movie, worth a few more viewings


L-M

-Loaded Weapon 1: Back when National Lampoon was good; keep for awhile

-Lost Highway: Hit and miss Lynch film; its fullscreen, but I really don't need a better version

-El Mariachi: El means "the," thus its filed under M; great tool for beginning film makers

-Million Dollar Baby: DE; keep for awhile

-Mirrormask: Trippy effects make it a surreal experience; keep for the look alone

-Mission Hill: Pretty funny cartoon that ended far too soon; birthday gift, obligated to keep for at least 5 years

-Monster Squad: Awesome and cheesy, The Goonies meets (a good) Hugh Jackman's Van Helsing; Wolfman's got nards!

-My Name is Earl: Its good, so does that not make it a sitcom; vol. 2 came out, so will continue to collect

-MST3k: Absolutely best sci fi show ever, up yours Star Trek; a few vol., couple single releases, and some bootlegs, keep

-Mystic River: Fine Eastwood directed movie (ED); keep

I recently traded in a bunch of dvds to CD Warehouse to filter out my collection. I can't remember too many of them that didn't make the final cut, but they were all junk I was never going to watch again (ie: Lord of the Rings extended cuts, Ghost Rider).

Here's what I still have, I'll try to mark what I'll probably get rid of:

0-9

-28 Days Later: Never finished; could wave bye-bye

-300: Already seen in theater; will stick around for awhile at least

-61*: A personal relic from a horribly run video shop; good enough to keep


A-B

-Absolute Power: Decent Eastwood; my love of all things Clint keeps it

-American Psycho: Awesome movie; ain't going no where

-Arrested Development: Vol. 1 is MIA, rest are here; definite keep

-Batman Begins: Special Edition; unless a better version happens, its a keep

-Batman TAS: Best superhero cartoon ever, period; nostalgia and quality ensure it stays

-Batman Animated Movies: Boxset and Mystery of the Batwoman: Batwoman will hit the chopping block before the others

-Blood Work: Decent Eastwood (DE for short); the Clint strikes again

-The Boondock Saints: Alright, though a bit over rated; most likely won't be around for long

-Bringing Out the Dead: Still shrink wrapped; my interest in Scorsese pictures will keep this here

-Brisco County Jr: Western show from my childhood; birthday present and damn fine show keeps it on the shelf

-Bronco Billy: DE; maybe the only Clint movie that may go


C-D

-Captain Ron: Snake Plissken stoned out of his mind; goofy enough that it still gives me kicks, keep

-Casino Royale: Still haven't watched; its place depends on how I like the first viewing

-Clerks: Kevin Smith's best: keep

-Clerks Cartoon: Kevin Smith's cartoon best: keep

-Collateral: Gritty looking movie in a good way: keep to use as a reference for digital filming

-Comic Book, The Movie: Eh; special features might keep it here

-Constantine: Horrible adaptation of the comic, but decent movie; a few more viewings left in it

-The Crow: Nice poetic comic movie; annoyances to Hot Topic might make it leave

-The Dark: Only bought because of Sean Bean; Bean doesn't do much, might go

-Dawn of the Dead: Original special edition and remake; great original and pretty good remake, keeping

-Dead Man: Johnny Depp in a western; a couple viewings, then gone

-The Dead Pool: DE; unless a Dirty Harry special edition boxset happens, keep

-The Dead Zone: Walken and Hall; great movie and still collecting the show, keep

-Death Wish: Charles Bronson cooks liver in it; a couple more viewings with friends, then gone

-The Deer Hunter: Deniro and Walken; great movie, definite keep

-The Departed: Shot in the head; great movie, keep

-Desperado: Balls to the wall action; I still admire the director's filming approach, despite Planet Terror sucking, keep

-Die Hard: 3 pack; first and third are good, second sucks, keep as a set


E-F

-Ed Wood: Fun Burton movie before his stuff started lacking; they call Karloff a cocksucker, keep

-Escape From Alcatraz: DE; fun movie, keep

-Escape From New York: Snake Plissken kicks ass; definite keep

-Escape From LA: Only sort of flaw in my alphabetizing; fun movie, keep

-Evil Dead: All three; still fun after all the years, keep

-The Film Crew: The new MST3k; still collecting

-Fistful of Dollars: Great Eastwood western (GE); will never get rid of

-For a Few Dollars More: GE; will never get rid of

-The Frighteners: Peter Jackson before he made that shitty King Kong; fun movie, that cool Don't Fear the Reaper cover keeps it

-Futurama: Canceled too soon; great cartoon, already have all 4 vol., keep

I've tried picking up the sketch book and playing around with it, but I really just haven't got it in me to do something worthy to show. I get into drawing slumps; my interest just goes away for awhile.

Lately, I've practiced and gotten better at my cooking, no more burned steaks. I've also been reading more prose books (one Bobby Heenan book, the latest 30 Days of Night novel, started the Terry Funk book).

I had one day of training for professional wrestling (meaning: fall on your back a lot). I ended up not being used for a small wrestling event in Lisbon. Which really is for the best, since it would have been a squash (I get my ass royally kicked) and I probably would have broken my neck (learning to fall on your back isn't as easy as it would seem).

Just for fun, my character would have been Queso Pantelonis (meaning in misspelled spanish, Cheese Pants). If I go back to the wrestling thing, I really doubt I'll keep to the plan.

So anyways, I'll keep trying at the sketchbook, but I don't know how far it will go. Maybe when my tablet pc is back...

xNLx

One the reasons I don't update as often as I'd like is the direct cause of just watching movies. Now, I'm not a stuck up jackass that can't just enjoy a stupid flick, but I absolutely don't go for the mind numbing shit that sometimes is all you here about. So here's a little doo-dad of films I like. Results may very:

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Now, when I bash Lord of the Rings or the newer King Kong, I'm usually told it's because I don't like long movies.

Not true! The problems with those movies are that they spread themselves too thin; there's not enough there to keep your full attention.

This is my favourite film, a three-some hour long masterpiece of a western. It's not so much the story that I really appreciate, it's the creativity and timing. Director Sergio Leone never really did scripts for his movies, he timed them out to fit the mood, song, etc. Sometimes there's a cheesy line and a hell of a log of waiting, but the fact the man knew how to make a long movie (unlike Peter Jackson) is what makes this film great.

ABOUT THE DVD: There are a few ways to get it. Originally theres the cheap Walmart copy for about $8 (seems like the current ones are just the first disc from the re-release). Then there's the extended two disc version available by itself or in a Leone boxset along with special editions of Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and Duck You Sucker.

They Live
I love Roddy Piper. I love John Carpenter movies. I fucking love movies full of satiric commentary.

What is definitely a cheesy concept (a man can see aliens with the aid of a pair of sunglasses) is pulled off so well that you wonder why they can't do it anymore. The movie is like a really long episode of The Twilight Zone. The original Serling ones, that is.

They Live is basically a big jab at the government, the man, the powers that be, the Illuminati, and whatever asshole authority there is out there. Of course, what else do you expect from John Carpenter, the original rebel film maker.

ABOUT THE DVD: There's only one region 1 version. I got mine in the bargain bin at Walmart around Halloween, so its pretty much seasonal when its in stores (readily available online though). There is a special edition, only in region 2. Only differences are an old making of, commentary by Piper and Carpenter, and cooler menus.

Jacob's Ladder
Simply put, this is the only horror movie that still really does scare me.

Anyone who even remotely considers themselves a Silent Hill fan needs to put this on their "top priorities" list. Jacob's Ladder was one of the first thinking man's horror movie. The whole story hits you from all sides so you don't know what to expect or what's going on until the end. Films nowadays advertise a twist ending, this entire movie is a fucking twist.

ABOUT THE DVD: Like They Live, there's only one version of it (not sure if there's a foreign special edition). Extras are some deleted scenes, a trailer, and boring stuff. I got my copy at Best Buy for about $7 (can probably still find it in the horror section).

Mystery Science Theater 3000
Any episode.

When you need to know what absolutely does not work in a movie, turn to our robot friends Crow, Tom Servo, and either Joel or Mike (both equally great hosts in my opinion). This is film watching pretty much at its most basic. Despite having to watch absolutely bad movies, you can have fun with almost everything! Almost...

ABOUT THE DVD: Multiple versions here. Rhino released single episodes and small compilations, but pretty much just do boxsets now (Vol. 11 just came out). Because of rights issues, some episodes do go out of print and become a tad expensive. Bootleg dvds are not frond upon here (tape trading is one of the ways it became a success), just be warned about quality. Best to only get ones out of print too, don't want to take money away from Rhino for all their hard work.  
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Well, that was fun. Anyone with suggestions or want to complain about my treatment of Peter Jackson, by all means post! I want to hear different opinions!

xNlx

Now, maybe I'm just a cold hearted son of a bitch, but I just laughed my ass off at someone else's misery.

Let me explain.

Awhile ago I was foolish enough to fall for a girl who will go nameless (I've got some morals at least). I cared about her more than any other person I knew; did everything I could to keep her happy.

Then she dumped me.

What made it worse was I later found out she was looking around (no proof that she "acted" around, though no proof that she didn't), and then traded up for "the man of her dreams."

Well, being abandoned really messed me up. I'm ashamed of it, but I was really looking into putting a permanent fix on myself. She still wanted to be friends (without, you know, ever giving me a call; I always had to do it), and I tried. After mentioning how lousy I felt and what I wanted to do, all I got was a very generic reassurance. Matter of fact, conversations were switched to her talking about her stupid video games more often than not.

Great fucking friend, huh?

After getting my bearings back, I took a good look at the situation:

-I treated her better than she treated me
-I practically made every attempt at communication; she called maybe 3 times in four months
-she was never interested in me, I was just the new thing of the week
-she in all likely hood cheated on me

My response: I just stopped calling her.

No fuck off, no get lost. Just no communication, and when we did talk, I was very disinterested in anything she had to say.

For that, I was branded a "raging asshole." I'd post the myspace blog about it, but that would go against the whole "don't reveal who you're badmouthing until they really piss you off" thing.

Anyways, back to main story.

So here she is, with the man of her dreams. Drawing all sorts of weird animal pictures of each other together. Now what do you think happens?

He dumps her and trades up! Oh dear lord I love karma!

Well, if I'm a bad person for this, then so be it. At least I'm not a liar.

Ram it up your ass,
xNLx