Thirst Redo Review

 

Beautifully shot movie to say the least. The transitions from scene to scene were interesting and fluid. I also enjoyed some of the obscure camera angles to display a scene which gave it a more eerie vibe to the film.

There was tons of sex after the flick jumped off, perhaps a little too much for me. Although this seems like a common thread I see in many Japanese horror films: lots of sex and gore to the extreme . . . thank God it was nothing like Itchi the killer though which I could barely finish.

Aside from the overuse of gore, the display of a vampire tied in well with good/evil, God/Satan. I enjoyed the philosophy of the film where religion was brought into the beginning stating that the worst sin a human can commit is suicide. I also enjoyed the humble priest morphing into a sinful human; gluttony at its finest example. At the end the two lovers committed this act which raises juicy questions for the audience such as 'Are they still considered human?' 'Is killing other beings for their survival better than killing themselves?' 'Are they going to be judged in front of God and where might they end up?'

Tae-joo was tweaked out female character. A woman who brought a man to his knees and seduced him into desires he had never explored before. This was probably a fine example of girl power over the opposite sex and what sick games can be had.

Again my absolute favorite part about this film was the beautiful scenes and screen shots. This was the only movie that I really enjoyed in the genre of vampires because it was made so unique and metamorphic of good to evil.

Satan Burger

 

Wow I really love this author's writing style! I love his way about explain written scenarios and situations is beautifully poetic while he manages to talk about such obsurd and weird ideas. I also love my beginning thought ideas of what he is actually writing about and I am always steered in the other direction which is awesome.

Kind of punk-biblical theory story line. God had gotten sick of humans and got rid of them. Sort of like Noah's art but twisted in such a anti-religious idea that this story would be shunned by conservative religious practicers. I think I was more disturbed and surprised from this before over The Haunted Vagina. Even though I knew somewhat about his writing style he always never stops astounding me. By disturbing I think it made more of a weird connection to me personally since I am Catholic so whenever God is involved that is not traditional I have more of a relation to it, and I don't mean that offensively.

Mellick also made me laugh a bunch more with the characters, God almost in a way 'getting sick' of playing God which has a whole bunch of irony within it self and Satan deciding to open up a burger restaurant! This was a book with amazing dark humor and reminded me of the movie call Wrist Cutters. I think if I was younger I would have been disgusted and turned off completely because of my religious background. I am glad I have read this kind of punk genre now without pent up anger over someone's vast imagination and I enjoyed it purely for entertainment.

His 2 books I have read so far keep me wanting to read more which is rare for me. A quick recap: I love the humor, definitely me favorite part. His books I would recommend for a younger crowd just for the sake of teens in their rebellious stage. I think these books would not get as good of reviews for older crowds as of today.

Audition dir. Takashi Miike Redo Review

 

This movie took me about 4 days to complete because I couldn't keep my attention towards it for very long. Thirst was an awesome shot movie with interesting angles and scenes. Now seeing this film, I was bored within the first 20 minutes. Scenes lasted too long with prolonged pauses and flashbacks. Very little dialogue was used in the film. Nothing is wrong with the lack of speaking in a movie but along with boring scenes made the film dull and repetitive.

I also never felt engaged or connected with other characters who were introduced. I would have preferred it if I received more background information about them. When the audience develops an emotional attachment to the plot and introduction of people, it makes for a strong connection that keeps viewers interested. Most mystery genres can be slow paced and its more for observing scenery like the attitude this movie gave but as I had stated earlier it seemed that very little clues and flashbacks progressed, every scene was almost the same and rerun of already shot scenes which also added to my boredom.

Now on a positive note, this gory flick encountered grotesque twist to the movie. American horror genres can easily get boring and repetitive and this film had hit every level to make you cringe in your seat. These scenes obviously had to the most action to them because NOTHING else ever went on! There were hardly any side stories to help the viewer think more about different characters and very little to no background information was leaked to even coming close with understanding the majority of characters throughout the film.

Overall the movie did a pleasant job of creating its intentional dull and mysterious mood, gory scenes we new and unique to the genre, which will make any movie lover of this genre squirm in their seat. I would hardly classify this movie as horror and more of mystery and gore and reminded all of us to not judge a book by its cover!

The Haunted Vagina

 

After reading this bizarre title I had to give this short story a try just to see if it was going to be complete pornographic garbage. I loved this book and I was able to read it all in one sitting. With his short chapters and fast paced moving plot something was always climaxing, literally...

His humor he brought to the couple I enjoyed a lot. He made Stacy's boyfriend the most connected character in the story. I felt his pain every page I read from his shitty situations, his injuries, and the amount of awkwardness he had dealt with throughout his journey. Im actually surprised he had stayed with Stacy as long as he did, being able to put myself in his shoes I would say I would have left the minute things started to get a little strange.

This was not a raunchy book by any means. One can only say this after reading the story and not judging the author's title. He used great imagery and his writing style was very easy to picture what was happening vividly.

Mellick both grossed me out with his imagery but while reading I became accustomed to the fact that his concept is really not so out there. He in a way, gave a new twist on women and giving birth, expect Stacey had to do this in reverse and 'give birth' again with her boyfriend. But as far as his imaginative idea, I would have been just as squeamish watching a birthing film as I was reading the boyfriend's experiences. Stacey's boyfriend is almost the gateway of what infants would experience if they had an already developed understanding of what was happening like adults.

Overall I had fun reading Mellick's writing style and getting a good laugh out of the dialogue over the actual plot of what ended up happening to the characters. This was not a disappointment to me reading this short story, as it gave me a chance to explore my own thoughts easy while reading his work at the same time. He kept me wanting more after I finished his book which is always a great prerogative.

What does your life look like in 10 years?

I would have seen almost all the places that I would want to travel 10 years down the road. My accommodations would include living comfortably somewhere in the west with a steady job. The changes will include new cures to unsolvable sickness although I would not be sure if we would have to negotiate some sort of deal for population control. Fast food and other restaurants would be healthier but more expensive than every and I think by then we will be having to pay for much more like water.

50 years from now, my career will hopefully slow and become more relaxing I will still be teaching on and off whilst traveling more and more. If I had money I would get more involved with people perhaps charities. My brother and I would be in close contact after our parents pass away. We are both going to be in good health. Transportation would become more Japanese engineering such as perfected cars, trains, buses, and planes. Food will come in tablets along with over the counter pills that fix sickness and bodily pains on the spot. Birth control will be voice activated from a chip that releases estrogen on the spot when told on command.

100 I would be a decaying dead body. No kids. No offspring of any sort. Biggest social problem is perfecting living in harmony with robots and humans

Software by Rudy Rucker

 

The code of life for robots, simplified to say the least. I, Robot had this code too which was one of my favorite movies even though I have not read the book. I am getting interested in cyberpunk and specifically robots intertwined with human existence. These sort of plots go horribly wrong in creative ways. The human race attempts to play God and create these laws so the robots cannot surpass mankind and we will have ultimate convenience while living in harmony. It seems that whenever codes and laws are developed for robots they evolve and gain a sense of free will, there for creating consequences of trying to gain it; as God gave to man the gift of freewill. In our universe where all living things have free rein of choices, we as imperfections can never create the 'perfect' being.

So not so much an apoctoliptic sci-fi novel, Rucker goes deeper and questions if the 'hardware' really matters anymore. Does it matter if we are body or machine and what advantages will that bring us? Such big ideas actually made me cringe on from my conservative background and being opposed to the whole idea of it but answering 'what if' questions. I thought this book was successful to my taste to bring up theoretical issues of ideas he invents and my perfect perception of a personalized utopia. Thoughout reading this short story, my head was spinning with certain questions that were coming into play such as: Has man kind reached so far into epistemology that we are now crumbling our idea of reality? Will this now open up a new chapter of behavior as humans that we will have to be reborn into a whole knew way of self value and the world around us? If this were to happen to us, would knowledge destroy us instead of giving us power? Rucker did a great job incorporating his ideas of his 'futurist philosophy' in this book, and I would be interested in reading more stories by him. This book fit perfectly into the category for actual possibilities of our future which does not seem impossible for long.

Serenity

This movie took no time in diving right into action packed scenes full of savvy humor and kick ass fight scenes. I gave this movie 4 out of 5 which is very good in my book because space flicks lose my attention easily. On a side note, I enjoyed seeing 2 of the actors from other crime scene series that I watch. Mal is an enjoyable character with a little bit of cockiness mixed in. I enjoyed the snappy comebacks the characters did for the comic relief of a battle movie.

I don't think I can ever get past the cheesiness that this genre brings. I think that these types of movies are extremely difficult to act profoundly in because so much is make believe but I think certain 'catchy' phrases from the 80's can be left behind.

I did not enjoy Rivers character at all, she was all sorts of annoying during the film. Her and her brother could have had tweaked personalities come with their intense background but they were overly dramatic which brings back my opinion of the corniness factor. Overall these two characters just reminded of every other anime series where the characters act stone cold due to a 'horrible' past.

I give a full on bravo to set design and special effects. Absolutely stunning! The individuality of sets through the film were always interesting and the make up was done nicely too. The film did well with fast moving fight scenes paying careful attention to detail and the ships looked well down in the fight scenes. Over all it was not a gory film but Serenity was not afraid to show injuries either (especially the carcass stained exterior of the ship part way though made me laugh). Set design and funny dialogue made this film very successful.

Samuel R. Delany, Babel17/Empire Star

Normally slow moving plots even bore me which goes for movies as well. I kept up with reading this short novel was for a recent project I had to create out of linguistics inspired by a Syntax art show in Tampa. I will admit there were points in Empire Star where I was getting the authors intelligence mixed with boredom.

Babel 17 we are introduced to a woman who indulges her ability to decode a foreign language for military espionage. As I started reading I was poking fun at the description of the main character; beautiful, talented, smart, well known. I think that the character description was typical and too disney princess, it was really unnecessary.

I can understand Delany's desire to get the audience interested in the slow paced philosophical area, and I am guessing I missed a lot of his games he strung throughout the story but I would have to read this story a couple times to grasp full understanding of every corner of the book. The portion of the reading that kept my attention allowed me to grasp a colorful image of characteristics (since it was not as intimate as other stories) was their ability to transform themselves so vastly the characters took on different animals, mainly reptiles. It was this part where I was able to make my own assumptions about the characters depending on what type of animal they took on to understands peoples individuality more because of the connection with typical animalistic behavior.

Also as we stated in class, this book dissects the language more so than the plot or characters. Its a book that takes time and patience. I don't have an interest in getting into books like these further but I cannot say I completely hated it. I did not get a chance to continue onto Empire Star for this week.

The Stars My Destination

In Bester's novel we are taken through the journey of Foyle following his transformation while dealing with a drama oriented life through war. I was taken by my own thoughts of all the possibilities of what I could do if I had the ability to 'jaunte' from one place to another. Although teleportation isn't a new idea, it made the action of the book even more intense for me and gave me the ability to put myself into some situations of what I would do. I loved expanding on what possibilities and curves could be taken throughout the course of the book.

I will point out that frustrated me while reading it was the dialect in the book and Im sure I am not the first to point this out. It was what I was not used to reading so throughout the book it was a bit choppy and interrupted the rhythm because I had to make sure I understood proper linguistics to understand fully. There were concepts and ideas that he wrote about and made them possible 'just because' such as teleportation that were full of holes. This came to mind mind throughout the book but I am aware that he is not the only one who writes about sci fi and developes unexpained rules that the audience is meant to accept for the sake of the story. 

This space exploration book kept my attention the most because he also demonstrated human sociology through his characters. I appreciated this humanistic trend in the book combined with the science fiction because it brought it more to life and again helped me connect with the characters more. He especially does this with Foyle's character which is a twist from the typical 'pure' hero or villain that I see in other books. This novel along with Warbreaker was able to make main characters easy to understand because of physical changes of the body (such as hair color or facial tattoos.) He makes him more human by giving him a sinful side also focusing on transforming himself for the better much like what all beings strive to do as we evolve and become more educated with lessons of every day life.

Warbreaker

My first novel that I read from Brandon Sanderson, and I loved the fact that the author was generous enough to let readers have it for free. For me not having touched many fantasy novels, the introduction was very easy to catch on to and have me visualize a clear picture of what was happening from the start. The characters in the book are likable from the start and unraveling them slowly through the beginning and middle kept my attention on top of the plot. After I read through the first part of the book I caught myself getting a little bored at certain parts and breezily skimmed chapters to keep my interest. Taking 'breath' from people in order for the gods to survive was dark and put a twist on how people take a view of the role of a god, especially coming from a Christian background. This trait that these characters carried with them reminded me of the soul suckers from harry potter in how these demons don't kill their hosts but leaves people in a state that is considered worse than death. Overall I would recommend this book to friends who have an interest in this genre because of his colorful imagination.

Audition dir. Takashi Miike

This movie took me about 4 days to complete because I couldnt keep my attention towards it for very long. Thirst was an awesome shot movie with interesting angles and scenes. Now seeing this film, I was bored within the first 20 mintues. Scenes lasted too long with prolonged pauses and flashsbacks. Very little dialogue was used in the film. Nothing is wrong with the lack of speaking in a movie but along with boring scenes made the film dull and repetative. I also never felt engaged or connected with other characters who were introduced. I would have preffered it if I recieved more background information about them. When the audience developes an emotional attatchment to the plot and introduction of people, it makes for a strong connection that keeps viewers interested.

Frankenstein

For not being much of a reader as one of my common hobbies, Mary Shelly's Frankenstein was a beautiful piece that I enjoyed to engage in. Her language and vocabulary throughout the writings and stories was poetic and well thought out. I loved the romantic characters that were introduced in the book including the monster.

The first third of the book introduces the biography of Frankenstein well to get the audience a clear emotional connection to his character. What I loved about the layout is that I was introduced to Frankenstein as a well educated man that was respected and a good human figure. As the story progresses, I soon find out that he slowly eludes every positive aspect about himself and see his character slowly morphing into the actual monster.

This book was more of a tragedy of events rather than horror in my opinion. I loved how reading her book took every stereotype for the monster and threw it out the window for me. I came to have feelings and connection to the created monster and felt extreme sympathy throughout his journey. I felt as I progressed through each chapter the monster actually became more human. Once Mary starts to introduce the thought process of the monster and his understanding of loneliness, the reader gets that human connection with the character and can sympathize because of similar emotions we have all encountered in the past.

Genius went completely wrong for Frankenstein. This was a story of how education and playing the role of God completely backfired for this scientist. He actually became more like a demonic figure towards the end of the book. He had the brainpower and created something that no human has every created before and lacked the responsibility to follow through with his creation, inevitably killing everything he ever loved. His quest to kill the monster is symptomatic for him in search of destroying himself.

Thirst

Beautifully shot movie to say the least. The transitions from scene to scene were interesting and fluid. I also enjoyed some of the obscure camera angles to display a scene which gave it a more eerie vibe to the film. Aside from the overuse of gore, the display of a vampire tied in well with good/evil, God/Satan. I enjoyed the philosophy of the film where religion was brought into the beginning stating that the worst sin a human can commit is suicide. At the end the two lovers committed this act which raises juicy questions for the audience such as 'Are they still considered human?' 'Is killing other beings for their survival better than killing themselves?' 'Are they going to be judged in front of God and where might they end up?'

Night of the Living Dead dir. George Romero

As the perfection of the genre 'zombie' greatly enhances it's characteristics overtime, this was not one of them. Unfortuneately this particular zombie flick had my attention directed elsewhere. I was not impressed with the acting of the characters and especially the monsters. It took me about ten minutes after the first zombie was introduced to figure out it was an actual zombie. This being said, the costumes of the monsters were very dull and the acting was not shocking, scary, or unpredictable. One positive trend I noticed for the monsters is finally towards the end of the film they started to evolve by using hand tools and other materials to kill their victims in a faster fashion. The zombies looked just as confused as the people did, which signaled that the acting on both parts was not believable for me. The most interesting scenes of the movie were only when the victims in the house turned against one another because of the 'stress' and conditions that they were all put in. Lastly, the point that there was no explaination of the killing sprees butchered the film by not tying in a plot for the movie.

Gothic Formula

- A character whose sensibilites will be sympathetically familiar and contemporary to the matter of the actual setting - is removed by circumstances from the normal to another dark realm
- This is another world, and it seeks to bring the protagonist under its sway. Supernatural manifestations, manifestations of the villians usually quite natural designs
- The protagonist becomes intrigued, or desperate enough to voluntarily travel deeper into the castles mysteries
- At the crux of the story, the awful thruth is revealed - and then the escape, through fortuitous discovery or romantic interest
- In true gothic, evil cannot be a moral cipher, or a psychological bon mot. It must take its place as an active, positive force in the narrative, for the characters as well as the reader. Torture and terror is never enought, there must also be the possibility that this is a genuine alternative with its own rules, own passions and rewards. The character must be able to see themselves as part of it-perhaps secretly desire it.

Elements of a Horror Film

- Sound is vital for the emotion of a horror film to portray 
- Minimal instruments for the buildup of the scare
- Quiet Pauses
- Expressive characters along with good acting/facial expressions
- Believability of almost all human emotion happy, terrified, surprised, sad
- A need for an explanation of the character whom to fear either before or after introduced
- Movies need to answer "Why should the audience be scared of this character?"
- The despription for the motive of the character (weapons, physique, phrases) that the audience can describe the character in few adjectives
- The character also needs to be unpredictable in dramatic events to makes him or herself interesting