Entries Tagged 'showing off my grammar knowledge' ↓

a dull boy by any other name…

Idioms and idiomatic expressions are neat. From the Serbian "He's ripping clouds with his nose!" to the Sweathoggian "Up your nose with a rubber hose!", quips and quotes and sayings vary from nations and people to people and nations. What causes outrage to a native speaker of a language may cause only puzzlement in a foreigner or Foreigner.

The most famous idiom found in a horror movie- well, except perhaps "You scared the shit outta me!"- is "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.", the sentence typed over and over by the sneaky Jack Torrance in The Shining. He was supposed to be working on his novel! That's why he refused sandwiches from Wendy, so he could concentrate! Gawd, what a jerk. First he sets up his special "must have quiet" writing area in the main hall, in the middle of everything, then it comes out that he's just been fooling around with typography the whole time.

Anyway. "All work..." may not be a familiar expression outside the shores of the ol' USA- so what was the phrase translated to in non-domestic releases of the film? Check it out!

FRANCE

ITALY

GERMANY

SPAIN

SWEATHOG

Mind you, I got all of these from The Internet, and as we all know The Internet has been known to lie (I'm looking at YOU, Nigerian widow who promised me millions of dollars)...but there you go.

it’s that time again…

Yes, it's time for another round of pure "eye-popping action and electrifying thrills" (Earl Dittman, Wireless Magazines) that will "leave your head spinning" (Peter Travers, Rolling Stone) with me, just a gal who's "funny, strong, gorgeous – and ultimately a woman of power and dignity" (Pete Hammond, Maxim)- it's Film Club Choosening Day! Here's what else the critics are saying about today:

“A full-throttle thrill ride.” – Chloe Houser, KPOX-TV
"An intense…riveting…adventure." – Steve Oldfield, FOX-TV
"...nothing less than a national treasure.” - Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel

As you can see, you're in for quite a treat. But enough with the suspense! Let's get to it. The next Film Club movie is...dun dun dunnnnn...

The Devil's Rain

Yes, my pretties, this FGFC go-round promises to be positively Satantastic. You may remember The Devil's Rain from that time I talked about buying it and I nerdishly pointed out the grammatical errors of the tagline. Or not. Mayhaps this is the first time you're hearing about this beaut from 1975 and you're all meehhh. Well, if that's the case, I've got a whopping 30 words for you to get you excited for this "delight for the eye, thrill for the spine, laugh for the belly, message for the heart, bonbon for children and captivating pleasure for adults!" (Gene Shalit, The Today Show):

Ernest Borgnine Tom Skerritt Ida Lupino John Travolta William Shatner Anton LaVey Eddie Albert Keenan Wynn and did I mention Ernest Borgnine with goat horns because it's totally in there

WOW. That's apparently the DVD menu, something I will miss out on as I will finally be watching my VHS copy. Those of you interested in the more technologically advanced version can find it on Netflix here.

Now, I realize that the due date is a bit far off and I apologize as we're all now dying to dig into The Devil's Rain. Thing is, I've got Ludlow to finish between now and then, and frankly a goat-horned Borgnine deserves my complete attention. Besides, it gives you whores time to pass around that Netflix copy like it's the Clap...I mean, I'm just gonna go out on a limb and say that this film is one the entire world needs to see. The critics agree!

"You will love this movie! " - Sandy Kenyon, WABC-TV
"It will suck you in and rock you to the core. Killer movie!" - Kevin Steincross, KTVI-TV

That last quote is actually about Twilight, just so you know.

The film: The Devil's Rain
The due date: Monday, September 7

briefs

- While you were sleeping, I went to see Disaster Movie and reviewed it for AMC. I think it was only because the hellish experience that was Demon of Paradise was still coursing through my veins that I didn't want to kill myself. So for that, I thank you, Demon of Paradise. Now get the eff out of my life forever! I seriously need to watch a quality movie before I find the nearest Grand Canyon and go all ten kinds of Thelma and Louise.

- Go visit my ol' pal Arbogast and check out his quasi-tribute to America's Next Top favorite caver, Beth, from The Descent. To avoid fainting, I must keep repeating, there are good movies out there...good movies out there...good movies out there...good movies out there...thanks for the reminder, Arbo! Beth rules and she rules hard.

- From the I weep for the children who are supposedly our future department: The Internets are all up in arms over the kinda sorta news that Vadim Perelman (The House of Sand and Fog) maybe kinda might helm the super possible Poltergeist remake. It's a fowl story, indeed, that Bloody-Disgusting has related. No one expressed their trepidation at the prospect more poignantly than commenter horrorchick81, however:
they need shot! y remake a GOOD classic horror/supernatural movie? who would star in it anyway everyone dies from them movies anyway bc of the poltergeist curse. there is noo way that this tupid ass remake will live up to the original even if they did get craig t nelson to reprise his role as stephen. anyone know what ever happened to that kid who played robbie in one an two?? i am soo signing it. never even seen house osf sand and fog so cant bitch bout the directer dude.
Verily...they need shot. And in case you were unaware of all the rumors of hauntings and curses surrounding the original Hooper/Spielberg production, horrorchick81 goes on to shed some light:
uh ya there is a thing as curse, how do you explain heather orourkes untimley/mysterious death??? the orignal cane/julian beck!? umm doninique dunnes (cant think of her name but she was robbies and carl annes sis in the first) death when she was strangeled by her boyfriend when i guess a friend/neighbor was litening to the poltergeist soundtrack?? taylor dying? that mysterious light when tangena got her pic. taken in the photograph?? to me that aint coincidence that is a curse so idk what u are talkin bout when u say there is no curses.
Maybe that's why I'm suddenly mired in bad movies when my week started out so well: there is a thing as curse. Who knew? I mean, besides horrorchick81, natch.

Now if you'll excuse me, I suddenly feel a burning desire to make some parse trees.

the friday wednesday

Greetings one and all. You have my sincerest apologies regarding the lack of updates around here, but I'm only just now emerging from the grip of a serious blog ennui...bloggui? I haven't touched my computer in days- in days, I tells ya- so consider this humble offering a step, at least, in the right direction.

It's not as if I've been watching all these awesome movies and not telling you about them, believe me. In fact, I have no idea what I've been doing with myself for the last week. Where have I been? What time is it? What is that doing there?

Well, no matter. A thousand pardons if this is old news, but AMC posted another of my columns this week. This effort is an admittedly cracked-out treatise on shark movies other than Jaws, and shark movies I'd like to see. It's groundbreaking!

Ahem.

It's also Ghostella week, hooray! Go forth now and watch Ex, a slasher film of sorts about one woman's long night dealing with her ex-girlfriend...and ex-girlfriend who really wants to get her lamp back. Or does she? Mua ha ha!

I don't even know if that make sense. The point is, watch it and see if you can spot my thrilling homage to Friday the 13th Part 2! First person to find it gets a virtual high five, which will make you the envy of all that you meet.

Speaking of being the envy of all you meet, check out what I picked up!

There is SO MUCH about this to love! Look at that cast! It's a sky full of stars, baby: Ernest Borgnine, Eddie Albert, William Shatner, Keenan Wynn, and Ida Lupino? Please. I'm all over it.

Note the grammatically incorrect tagline. That apostrophe in "Devil's" ruins the whole thing. If they mean that there will be a bunch of devils, like, raining down, then there shouldn't be an apostrophe. If they mean we should all watch out because the devil's rain can, like, melt your face off or something, then they need to complete the thought. "Heaven help us all when the devil's rain falls, because it will, in fact, melt our faces!" No, it's not catchy, necessarily, but it's more grammatically delightful.

What's best about this, however, is the bold declaration "The most incredible ending of any motion picture ever!" Sure, you may be shaking your head as if to say "Really? Really, The Devil's Rain? Ever?", but bear in mind that this film hit in 1975, meaning that Killer Workout, which can, in fact, boast the most incredible ending of any motion picture ever, was still 11 years away.

I can't wait to watch this. It really is a video treasure!