31 Days of October-Day 4

Sorry I'm a bit late today. My Dad had a minor heart attack, and there were car problems...everyone is fine. I spoke to Dad on the phone, and he's chipper. I have a rental car and insurance. (Yay!) So, we're good, but things were a little stressful for a bit. Life happens. :)

So...movies. I'll list three today because you didn't get any Halloween goodness yesterday due to Monday.

The first is John Carpenter's The Thing. 

[Mr. Movietone voice] In a world where women don't exist... [cough] No really. There are no women in this movie. But on the upside? There are two black characters with names and lines and one of them survives to the end, even! So, positive points there. Nonetheless, this film is one of my old favorites from back in the day. It scared the be-jebus out of me in the theater. Now? Not so much, but that's largely because I've seen it so many times. Mind you, it has one of the best lines ever: "It's weird and pissed off, whatever it is." Ha!  At the same time, the computer graphics are laughable. But that's okay. The aliens are the intergalactic version of the Griswalds from Vacation, complete with grandma strapped to the roof of their vehicle. (The only explanation Dane and I can think of for the alien to be frozen outside the space ship. Because even Star Trek had the capacity to check the atmosphere before sending their away team into it.) Also, my husband says he's seen drunken goths with more sense around open flames. That said, I much prefer the 1982 version. It hangs together better--if for no other reason than it's easier to believe that the Scoobies are trapped on Antarctica with no means of communicating with anyone in the outside world and the Norwegians haven't sent a warning message about what the hell happened...because 1982. It's still fun. Maybe I'm biased because I've had a crush on Kurt Russell since I was like 6.

Next up, The Addams Family and Addams Family Values. 

I've been a fan of Charles Addams' work every since I saw the Addams Family television show as a child. The coolest part of the first movie is that it faithfully replicates a number of his New Yorker cartoons. When I watched it in the theater and saw the opening with the Christmas carolers I knew the film was going to nail it. They had everything spot-on. I even have a few of the toys that were sold at the time. The second film is every bit as great as the first. I adore Joan Cusack and she's brilliant as the psycho, Debbie.

More tomorrow. Hope your Tuesday was a good one!