Don't Dream It...

...Be It.

~Frank-N-Furter

--

So today (October 22, 2010) I got 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show' on Blu-ray after ordering it online through Amazon. They said it wouldn't arrive till the 27th, but it came today, so you can just imagine my excitement when I saw that Amazon box sitting on our front door step. So not 5 minuets after I walked through the door and opened up the box containing my long awaited Blu-ray...and I was not disappointed.



The booklet that this particular edition comes with is, in itself, a very special treat in it's own right. The pictures that it contains are very cool however I was hoping for a few more pictures that I had never seen before (However, when you're like me and you have over 3000+ pictures of JUST Frank-N-Furter alone, odds are you've pretty much seen everything there is to see of the guy.)



And after reading two introductions written by Lou Adler (Executive Producer) and Sal Piro (President of RHPS Fan Club), I grabbed the disc out of the booklet and threw it into my Blu-ray player faster than you can say 'Transylvanian Transvestites'.
What followed was a 5 minuet wait for the darn thing to load.
Now I know that it's most likely my own Blu-ray player (it does that for quite a few of my movies) but it brings me to my first gripe.
Why do movies now-a-days have to be PURLEY digital? What happened to VHS, where you could just fast forward and BAM. You're watching the movie. And even DVDs aren't TOO bad (sure there's a few where you can't skip ahead to the menu right away) but at least you get to the menu without a LOADING TIME.
I understand that Blu-ray movies, because they are digital, can hold more memory, hence the more features, the fancier menus, and higher quality video and sound, but for the love of God, at LEAST let me skip right to the menu without enduring a loading screen. It's ridiculous.

So after waiting patiently for the disc to load, I was greeted with the song 'Science Fiction Double Feature -Reprise' and I began admiring the fancy menu layout. It's not like the 25th Anniversary edition where you have the legs dancing across the screen and the lips guiding you through the menu (unfortunately), but it was still impressive non-the less.
I chose to watch the UK version of the movie, and as far as I know the only difference is the song 'Superheroes' edited back in, but I haven't watched the US version in a while, so don't take my word for it.
And once the movie began to play I was immersed into the world of Rocky Horror once more, but this time the video was so sharp, I could make out the individual taste-buds on Patricia Quinn's tongue as she lip-synced 'Science Fiction Double Feature'. But that was only the beginning, not only was the video stable (unlike the shaky picture you get when you watch the VHS or DVD) but it was CLEAR. And when I say that, I mean it was Crystal. Clear.
I found myself saying "Wow" at least 5 times a minuet admiring the quality of the video, and how well they transferred the original film to Blu-ray. It seriously looks amazing, and it's something that has to be seen to be believed. You can literally see the pores on their skin. You can make out each of their eyelashes, and every single strand of hair on their head. I had no idea how it was going to look on Blu-ray, so I wasn't expecting a perfect transfer...but it's a PERFECT transfer.
The sparkles on the corsets and shoes nearly blind you, and the fine lines in the fishnets have you staring at their legs the entire time. The water flying off their hair when they dance, and the little details on the set you could never make out before has all been revealed in glorious High Definition. I can't praise it enough. It looks amazing. (My jaw literally hit the floor when I saw Columbia in her first outfit during the Time Warp sequence. I swear she was going to jump out of the TV and start tap-dancing around my living room.)



The picture is astonishing. But what I HEARD...not so much.
Again, it's probably the set-up I watched it on, and I have yet to watch it again on my own system, but I was never saying "Wow" to the sound quality, rathehr "Owww" more than anything.

The songs used in this version were the original recordings re-mastered to a point where you can hear parts in the songs you never even knew were there, so it honestly DOES sound amazing. (Alot better than the VHS or DVD versions, that's for sure.)
But the general quality of the audio is all over the place. It IS clear, and the bass is fantastic, but when a song started up, I found that the lead vocals were severely overpowered by the instruments, and I was struggling to find the main vocals in alot of the songs. (Sure I've listened to it a billion times, but I WOULD like to hear it again.)
And also whenever groups of people were talking all at once (specifically the opening Wedding scene) it sounded like they were all inside of a cave. The background noise echos and I found it distracting, and also considering since I had no problem with it before, it was annoying. But that's only a fraction of my REAL issue with the sound.
The main problem is the volume of the entire film. The songs are EXTREMLEY loud, (and especially the higher notes and brass instruments) it screeches out of the speakers no matter how low your volume is. And as much as I love the songs of Rocky Horror, I would like to keep my hearing till I at least finish High School. (As I type this out I still have a slight ringing in my ears.)
So it's loud...but it's also extremely quiet. Right after each song, the audio drops SIGNIFICANTLY. After turning the volume almost all the way down to listen to the songs without bursting my eardrums, I had to turn it all the way back up just to catch whispers of the dialogue, that on the DVD, you can hear no problem. There was honestly no happy medium, and once I thought everything would be adequate, I had to turn it up again, or turn it back down again.
So what I found was that not once while watching this movie did I let go of my home theater remote. I was constantly turning the volume up and down the entire time in attempts to keep the audio consistent, and I shouldn't have to do that with any movie I watch, especially on the "new" Blu-ray format. (However, I have a bad habit of adjusting the volume throughout movies anyway to keep loud scenes normal, so it's probably just me.)
However the picture is so amazing, I'll sit through anything just to see it again.

And as far as the special features go, I haven't gotten around to seeing all of them yet, but I know they're amazing from what I've read about them. I watched the Mick Rock feature and viewed the gallery, and that's about it. As far as I know, the commentary is the same one that's on the DVD, (alot of features have been brought over from the DVD to this release) so there's alot to keep you busy, old AND new.

So overall...I was not disappointed. While the audio is not as good as it could have been, (but it's still in great quality) you need to consider that this is a 1975 film, and it was transferred to Blu-ray from the original film negatives, so for what it's worth, it is absolutely astonishing.
Video quality is beautiful (I honestly can't say enough about it) and even though the audio is all over the place, it still sounds like the Rocky Horror we all know and love, and that's all that really matters.
So if you if you haven't got your hands on this yet, get on it!!

'So come up to the lab,
and see what's on the slab.
I see you shiver with Antici.........


....pation.'

Sleep.

Those little slices of Death. How I loathe them.
~Edgar Allen Poe

--

So I thought for once I would just post this in my blog, rather than my dA account. (Since I have this random 'Rule' where I need to post a new Journal every 6 days, or some bull sh!t I made up at the time, I don't know anymore)
However last night I had a once in a lifetime experience of viewing a Midnight, 35mm screening of 'A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors". With an audience just as fanatic about Freddy as I am.

Best. Movie. Experience. Ever.

And I'm just going to jot down everything that comes to mind, so I don't forget ANYTHING.
So before the show starts, me and my buddy drove down there (smuggling Skittles and chocolate bars into the theater) and paid the $10.00 for the ticket, found a seat a few rows down from the back and waited for 5/10 minuets.
Then a guy walks on with a mic, and talks about these Midnight shows, apparently the theater we're at (The Broadway) holds 2 Midnight movies a month. (Something I'll have to keep a sharper eye out for, from now on) And then he says he has a few prizes to give out for those who bought advance tickets. Of course I was like, I DIDN'T KNOW YOU COULD BY ADVANCE TICKETS!! So I was kind of having a breakdown because part of all of the prizes were Nightmare 3 posters. (And of course, me being me, "I want a poster!" "But you don't have any room!!" "I'LL FIND ROOM!!")
So after he was done calling out numbers, and handing out several posters (the other prizes were tickets to another movie), he throws the rest of the posters on the stage and he said "Ok , so we have a few posters left. Whoever wants one just come up and grab one."
Of course, we're near the back, so I JOLT up, RUN down the isle (in 5" heels) barge my way through the people grabbing posters (some of them were black and white) so I was frantically looking for a Colour poster, then one caught my eye, so I went to grab it and apparently someone else had a hold of it, so I simply tugged on it and the person let go. THE PERSON JUST LET GO. And it was the last colour poster to, so I was SO happy I got one, I sat back down at my seat, smiling like an idiot, and my buddy says again, "Where the hell are you going to put it?" ".....I don't know."
But hey, at least I have a Nightmare 3 poster now. *shrug*

I haven't even talked about the MOVIE yet. So after a bunch of cheesy previews, (there were trailers for Nightmare 2, and Nightmare 4 attached on) and the hilarious Dokken music video they made for Dream Warriors (THE GUITAR PLATER JUMPES OUT OF THE WALL, AND THE DRUMMER PLAYS IN THE FURNACE!!), we started the film.
*Pause as we fade in to Kirsten dramatically opening a bag of flour*
"NO! NOT THE FLOUR!!!!!!"
*laughing*
*Pause as we see her pour the mixture of flour and glue into a bowl*
"No. NOT PAPER MACHE'!!!!"
Me and Freddy guy SIMULTANEOUSLY: "IT'S THE PAPER MACHE MIXTURE OF DOOOOOM!!!"
*laughing as we cut to a shot of Kirsten cutting strips of news paper*
"NOOOO!! SCISSORS!!!!!" *girlish scream*
*I begin choking on a Skittle*
*Pause as the rest of the Paper mache' montage continues*
"NO, OTHER SHOT OF SCISSORS!!!"

The entire movie was FULL of liners from random people. I know Rocky Horror's like that (Hell there are Callback SCRIPTS written out for different areas around the world) but Nightmare it was a free for all.
The guys behind us (one of whom was wearing a Freddy get-up (minus the glove and makeup)) were some of the funniest. They made the entire audience laugh, and they would randomly jump into serious conversations about the Nightmare series as the movies going on, example;

(When we see Amanda Krueger for the first time, but don't know her name)
Freddy guy: "That's Freddy's mom!!"
Random guy: "Really?"
Freddy guy: "Ya, she was raped by 100 maniacs."
Me singing to myself: "Son of a 100 Maniacs, Son of a 100 Maniacs."
Random guy: "Dude, that's sick. Like imagine 100 sperm just FORMED into Freddy Krueger, no wonder he's f***ed up."
Freddy guy: "Well out of the 100 maniacs, there was one that just HAPPENS to look like Robert Englund."
*Laughing*
Freddy guy: "So I'm pretty sure that's the one that made it through."
Me to them: "Just watch part 5 and 6."
Freddy guy: "Exactly. It's explained in those movies."
Me: "Just don't watch ALL of part 5, or you might want to kill yourself. It's horrible."
Freddy guy: "Well of course. Simply watch bits of it, for the love of God, DON'T watch all of it."
*pause for several minuets*
Freddy guy: *Starts laughing to himself* "Little Freddy, killing hamsters at School."
*I start laughing again.*
Freddy guy: "And his dad is Alice Cooper."
*I begin choking on another Skittle.*

And the Freddy guy, I swear to God, he only came to see John Saxon. In the middle of serious scene he would be like; "When the hell does John Saxon show up, come on!"
And when he came on screen, John's character says;
"Well if it isn't my little girl."
Freddy guy replies; "Well if it isn't John Saxon."

And during that bar scene after Nancy is finished talking to her dad (John Saxon) she begins to break down, so we begin to feel sympathy for her, but then Freddy guy just breaks the mood and says; "Dude, does Nancy totally look's like Sarah Connor in this scene, or what?"
Random guy sitting next to him: "The T-1000's are going to take you back to the future."
Freddy guy: *In Arnold Schwarzenegger voice* "Come with me if you want to live!!"

And it was stuff like that. And of course since the movie was a 35mm print, it had that old school scratchy quality to it, and the audio was SO touchy. When someone was talking, they would be SO quiet, but as soon as someone pronounced an S sound, it would just shreek over the SSSSSSSpeakers. It was hilarious.
And the SCREAMS. Oh man, I know Nightmare 3 is a loud movie (they all are) but you simply don't know how loud it is until you've seen it on Film.
And Freddy's glove???? HOLY F***. It's never bothered me before, but holy SH*T, when it goes off, it feels like a dentist is drilling in your ear drum. It's BRUTAL.
And of course my buddy is like "Agghh!! That's a horrible sound!!"
And me, being such a Fred Head, I replied "THAT'S AWESOME!!"
Because THAT'S the sound his glove is supposed to make. A SHRILLING sound, that REALLY just makes you cringe.
I don't think I can ever watch Nightmare 3 the same way again.

And really, even the LOOK of the film was better on 35mm. When you watch the DVD, everything is so clear and DARK, you can tell it's SO fake and cheesy. But when you watch the FILM, it's light, and scratchy, and it's how it's SUPPOSED to look. It looks AMAZING!!!!
Screw Blu-ray. I want 35mm Film!!

Simply amazing. I would give anything to re-live that experience.
...ROCKY HORROR NEXT MONTH!! I'M SO EXCITED!!!!!

Wonderland...

Where are you now?

~American McGee's Alice

--

Again, neglecting my poor blog.
Not that anyone reads it...but I feel horrible not having anything WORTH writing about in this blog. I don't do movie reviews, I'm not on some epic quest to lose weight, and in general...I don't even have a life worth blogging.

But it's still fun.

I was away at camp for the past week, and it simply FLEW by. I hardly remember anything that happened, let alone say that I went to camp. But from what I recall, it was LOADS of fun as it usually is.
And, sadly, that's it.

I got my Hannibal Lecter figurine, so I was giddy about that.
And today my American McGee's Alice costume came, so I bloodied it up a bit more, and did a makeup test. And that's it!
So my Halloween costume is ready, all thats left now is to narrow down my pumpkin carving patterns.

Because at this point, I have 7 I want to do.

Quid Pro Quo, Clarice...

This is just a very quick update letting yo all know that I somehow managed to re-buy Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal. I already have a copy...but I bought both of them again.
Why? Because I went to pick up Red Dragon, and I noticed that it was a Collectors Edition (Yes, I'm a HUGE sucker for that crap) and my other two DVD's of SOTL and Hannibal were not. So I can't have one special edition and the rest normal.

It's Pirates of the Caribbean all over again.
(However, it's worth it, because the Silence of the Lambs (the one I just bought) has Recepies on the back (4-5 of them involving Fava Beans) with an invitation on the front from Hannibal Lecter himself. )

So, naturally I freaked out.

I'm such a nerd.

Could he daily feel a stab of hunger for her...

...and find nourishment in the very sight of her? I think so...but would she see through the bars of his plight, and ache for him?

~Hannibal Lecter

--

Well, I told you this would be updated rarely. But here I am, with nothing to do, and nothing on my mind except for Hannibal and my billion other obsessions.
However, I do have some news on stuff that concerns my obsessions. So here it goes.

• The 2010 'A Nightmare On Elm Street' FINALLY has a Blu-ray/DVD Release date set for October 5th.

• 'Alice: Madness Returns' (American McGee's Alice 2) FINALLY has an offical Trailer and Website - Here: http://www.ea.com/alice

• Loads of new Behind the Scenes pictures are being taken on the set in Hawii for 'Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides' (POTC 4), and can be viewed on various Johnny Depp websites. The best one being here: http://johnny-depp.org/

• And I FINALLY have a movie I can look foward to besides Pirates 4...It's called 'Inkubus', and I don't know how wide the Theatrical Release will be, or if it will even be advertised, or what...but I am SO hyped up for it. It'll come out sometime near the end of this year (Roumoured for a late October/Halloween release)

It stars, of course, Robert Englund and the Summary goes something like this:

'Inkubus tells the story of a skeleton crew, including officers Caretti and Cole, working the final shift of a closing police station. This night takes a gruesome turn when a demon named Inkubus calmly walks in with the severed head of a murdered girl. He allows himself to be restrained and begins to confess his litany of crimes. Why? Inkubus wants his one phone call to contact the single detective who almost caught him some thirteen years ago. They have unfinished business that will reopen a haunting unsolved murder. The cops unlucky enough to be present are fated to participate in, and witness, Inkubus' crowning achievement of murder, gore, and mayhem.'

It shares the same vibe that 'Repo! The Genetic Opera' has, (Inkubus' Twitter and Facebook pages posting such one-liners as "People crave attention. I crave people." "I'm that strange noise you hear when you're home alone." and "Just bought a new chain-saw. Who wants to help me break it in?") He's got LOADS of these hilarious quotes, and posts at least 2 a day. (I bet you right now it's Robert Englund posting it all. I can just see him cackling away at his computer screen typing this stuff up.)
But really, I cannot WAIT to hear more about this movie. All there is right now is that plot summary, and a few pictures. No Trailer...no interviews (save for a news story where the movie was filmed in Woodhaven, Rhode Island) so everything is very hush-hush on Freddy--erm, ROBERT'S new project. But it sounds absolutly fantastic at this point.
Official Website: http://inkubusmovie.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/theinkubus (Check it out to read more hilariously twisted quotes)
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/InkubusMovie?ref=search (Has the same updates as Twitter)

The last two are identical, but I posted both just incase someone only does one of those websites instead of both...unlike me, who has NO Twittard, or Phacebook account, but I keep a shortcut on my Desktop just so I can read them everyday.

And now that I have 'Inkubus' out of the way...that's pretty much it.

I've been obsessivly playing Pirates of the Caribbean Online alot lately...and watching at least one Hannibal movie a day for the past week and a half...and Drawing Hannibal/Sir Anthony Hopkins in the process. (Not appologizing for the Watermark. It took me FOREVER to draw it, and I want it safe out here in the scary internet world.)

...I do wish we could chat longer, but I'm having an old friend for dinner.
Bye.

"You gotta do that sexy Freddy walk.

...you know what I mean?"

"I know what you mean."

"The one thing is, you have to walk real slow. You can't rush it. You can't be nervous about it. You're Freddy F***ing Krueger, and Freddy F***ing Krueger isn't bothered by some pussy little fire."

"Yeah, but Robert F***ing Englund is."

"Don't worry. You'll have water gel on your hat, and we'll all be standing by with our fire extinguishers. We're hoping to do a Nightmare 3, so we don't want you to get all burned up."

"Very funny."

--

I knew this would happen. Start a blog, then neglect to write in it. *shrug*

At least I have one...

Anyway. That quote above is from Robert Englund's Autobiography; 'Hollywood Monster'

The one book that's taken me FOREVER to get my hands on, but unlike Nightmare 6, at least I found it the first place I looked.

So I instantly grabbed it, bought it, then read it in 5 hours. Straight.

This is probably the only other book that I've read in it's entirety within one day. And books like this keep me coming back to it, so as of now, I'm on my third read of this thing.

And, if you ever get a chance to, PICK IT UP. I don't care if you don't know who Robert Englund is, I don't care if you don't want to read about his life, and I don't care if you don't read books.

It's absolutly amazing, and I had a smile plastered on my face the whole 5 hours.
First it was there because I actually FOUND it. Then it was there because I could actually AFFORD IT. Then it was there because for the next 5 hours, I was actually READING it.

You have no idea how badly I wanted to read this book. (I'm aware I need a life...but I much prefer reading about other people's lives who's are FAR more interesting than mine.)

So...if you see it, pick it up...or Robert will kill you in your sleep.

So anyway...besides that School is OFFICALLY done for me. I wrote my last Final today for Biology...and it was easy as f***. He gave us the actual Final to study from about a month and a half ago, so all I had to do was basically fill it all in all over again.

Easiest Final ever...besides Art...and English...Photography...ect.

So now that schools out...I have nothing to do for the rest of the Summer. I'll be heading off to visit family in Toronto shortly, but...that's nothing special, not like I haven't been to Toronto a million times already.

Yep...that's about it. Reading books, watching movies, writing reviews for Lie to Me episodes, and writing Finals.

Exciting.

THAT'S why I read his book in 5 hours. It was the most interesting thing that's happened to me in well over 2 months.

--

So for lack of an interesting blog, and for kicks and giggles, here are a few random pictures I've come across the past few days that are GUARENTEED to brighten up your day.

What an idea...

...a crazy, mad, wonderful idea.

--

We all know I got Alice in Wonderland on DVD/Blu-ray the day it came out. Of course I did. And I made damn sure it was the BEST version that Disney released. The DVD/Blu-ray/Digital Copy Combo Pack. It's the same for EVERY new movie now, Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus was like that, Dark Knight was like that, Sweeney Todd was like that, and even movies my mom already owned like Phantom of the Opera was like that! She had the 1 disc version, but when we went out shopping, I bought myself the 2 disc just because...
However...it's been like that since Pirates of the Caribbean...

Back then, they released all 3 POTC movies in December, so I had to wait until Christmas to actually hold them in my hands. I can't believe I actually DID that!! Now, I'd flip sh!t if I don't get a movie like that the first day it comes out. I don't know how I lived those weeks in between the release of the DVD and Christmas. I remember whenever we went shopping those weeks I would see it sitting in the shelves in HMV, just mocking me. Talking to me. Beckoning me over with it's brand new Holographic slip cover...thank God I never did wait till Christmas.
I don't know if my mom knows this, but if she ever does,
1: It's too late now, and
2:...I don't even think she know's I have a blog.

But I actually went straight to the mall after school on their release dates and picked up the Single Disc version with my own money I had been saving up behind my mom's back. For POTC 2, I actually had to go over to the mall over lunch because my mom was home, and she'd wonder why I was late coming home after school if I got it then.

I was clever.

But it was pointless, because to this day, I've never watched those versions. I just bought them to have that comfort of OWNING them brecause it was all that kept me alive until Christmas when I could actually WATCH it on my TV screen.
So by this point...I have 3 copies of each POTC movie. Single Disc, Collectors Edition, and Blu-ray. (And I might even get the VHS of POTC if I ever run into my old babysitters again. They own it, and I still don't think they've ever watched it yet.)

But all this talk about DVD's brings me back to Alice in Wonderland. (The irony, as I'm typing this up a commercial for it is playing on the TV)
You know how when a remake of a movie comes out, stores will feature the Original film, and Companies will release "Special Edition's" to make some extra money.

Well it works.

In 2003 (I believe), Disney came out with a nice Anniversary DVD release of the 1951 animated Alice in Wonderland. (This was in the beginning of Disney converting all of it's older films onto DVD) and it was nice.
There was no talk of a remake by this point, and it came and went back into the "Disney Vault"

Now, all of a sudden, TIM BURTON'S ALICE IN WONDERLAND come's out starring Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, and unknown Mia Wasikowska as the title character Alice Kingsleigh.
Disney get's 'greedy', and releases a special "UN-Anniversary Edition" to help boost awareness for the new Alice.

I have to admit, it's VERY clever, and I think Alice in Wonderland is the only movie that can get away with a random re-release onto DVD by using it's own "UN-Birthday" gimmick.
But I could see from a mile away it was a lame shot by Disney to grab more money from suckers like me who didn't care about Alice in Wonderland until Johnny Depp got involved. (Or were too lazy to pick up the first DVD when it came out, because frankly...no one cared about it)

However, it's things like that that empty your pockets of every penny. (Or rather, empty your wallet of every $50 bill you have)
And the same goes for the new Nightmare on Elm Street.

Now I'm warning you. I have no idea where this is going, but...it's fun typing out rants.

So the new Nightmare is out starring Jackie Earle Haley as Freddy (a so-so Freddy, overall. Some love him, some hate him, and some like me, don't really care for him)
Remember, I wasn't even a twinkle in my mothers eye when the Nightmare movies were beinng released in the 80's, so I don't really know TOO much about their popularity back then except for looking at the aftermath of it all. (Even when I was 5, I knew who Freddy Krueger was. Repeating what was said in Wes Craven's New Nightmare, Freddy's like Santa Clause. EVERYONE know's who he is, and up till a month ago, I never dreamed (no pun intended) about obsessing over it like I do now.)

However, a few days ago I went over to my local CD/DVD store and picked up a copy of Wes Craven's New Nightmare for $8, the same price they've been selling them for for the past...oh, I don't know, 3 years. I bought it just to 'own it' rather than have a 'non-existant' copy of it on my computer. (The same goes for all other Nightmare movies on my computer (except 2 and 5))

And today, I had just enough to pick up another one, so I walk over...pick up Nightmare 4...lo-and behold, it's now $13.

THOSE CHEAP A$$HOLES.

I mean, this is only 3 days apart, I swear! And the 'New' Nightmare came out April 20th, so if they really intended to hike up the prices because of the new one, they're a little late!!! Well SURE, 3 days earlier I would have GLADLY spent $13 on it, but the fact that it changed so much so quickly...there's something wrong with this picture.

I don't know what to say, or how to end this...but it's just things like that that really piss me off...