Dark Shadows Trailer
Remake, reboot, or hot mess. You decide. If there’s a Christopher Lee cameo in this movie, it might be worth one glance.
Stressed Out
It’s been days of crazy imbalances and upsets with me trying to managed my life. Writing has become a chore, however, as always I come back to it and resolve the issues within. I’ve had to adjust to some schedule changes and life and general. One of those things being my car needing service. It really unnerved me. Thank god I was able to get it serviced. I think this week I’ll have a complete handle on the chaos.
Working on the thesis today. I could not manage to write much since I was making breakfast, and after cooking I don’t feel like eating or writing. I’m making myself type this blog post. I insisted that SDCD have something noteworthy to write. The thesis still needs a gang of work and some days dedicated to its development. Been reading a new source on dark humor to add to my genre discussion. I’m glad I took the time to read it while my car was being repaired.
Did some fiction reading as well. Was reading The Calling by David Gaider. Yes its a gaming prequel for Dragon Age, but I needed the escapism. Non-fiction reading consisted of The Art of Dramatic Writing which proves, as always to add depth to my writing knowledge. At this point, I covered having a premise is the best way to start any story. Something that brings depth to writing. In another post I will talk more about my desire to entertain as a writer.
Soon, I’ll have to gather my notes on reviews I did and type them out to post here and at Tastes Like Comics. Damn I’m feeling sketchy at the moment, but will manage to get all things on track like a pro!
Thesis Fridays: It’s Almost Here
I’ll be working on more of my thesis paper tomorrow. The goal is to get two more fully cited pages, which will add to my seven and one half pages. It will bring me closer to ten, and I need to add my handwritten notes as well as review a few other items I put aside for my thesis. That will give me the ten I need for this week, because I want to repeat the process for the next week.
I do need to complete what I feel is a fully cited contextualization of the comedy genre. I also need to have solid definitions of satire and romance since these sub-genres overlap in the films I’m discussing, as well as horror. Yes I’m running a gamut here, but if the thesis were easy I may not want to do it at all.
Even more so I need to crack open a few more books and get more sources on the pages. I’m in strict need of making this process a lot more productive than last week. If I can get four fully cited pages tomorrow I feel I’ve achieved more positive than simply passing by. Thesis is tricky. I’m looking at clarifying what I need to make this pop. At the moment my paper feels fragmented without shape, and definitely unpresentable. I suppose that is the nature of a rough draft though.
Body Politics in An American Werewolf In London
As the curse begins, humanity and wild converge in dreams.
An American Werewolf in London is a 1981 cult horror film directed by John Landis. This film mixes black comedy with tragedy, and horror. Story-wise, the title says it all: An American, David ( David Naughton) hikes in England with his friend, Jack (Griffin Dunne) and they are attacked by a Werewolf. While Jack is slaughtered, David survives. The curse lives on in David.
This is why I never go hiking.
I think of the 1980s look as “rustic” because narrative and visuals hold up pretty well. You see where the film attempts to edit some scenes but I find that gore and nudity come together to make the film.
Nudity plays a provocative role of danger and laughs when the primal side of the body’s displayed. Censors and prudes be damned. The beast was unleashed, played for a while, then put down. It is a rejection of our own bestial natures. Visually and emotionally David’s body journey’s through multiple stages of vulnerability, love, suffering (transformation), and ends with David’s death.
Note the contrast in David's gaze from previous image.
Seeing the undead people arguing with each other and discussing ways for David to kill himself to break the curse is hilarious and dreadful. David is mortified, and in some was so was I, yet found the scene funny .
David’s transformations from human to beast are horrible, yet sublime. The special effects look painstakingly detailed. We have the human body being reshaped into a creature. As the film progresses, you want this torture to end, yet you don’t want David to die. Like David, we don’t really have a say in the matter.
Waxing is gonna get ugly for poor David.
