Frivolity Break: Final Season of True Blood is Coming!

I didn't ever read the Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris, and didn't catch the latest "vampire craze" wave (I was a Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel fan, from the previous wave) at first. I caught a few episodes of season 3 of True Blood, and was hooked. I immediately watched every episode I could, and at the time that meant season 2 and then the rest of season 3 in real time. Soon enough, I sought out the first season, and picked up season 4, 5 and 6 also as they happened. And I like it nearly as much as Buffy, which is really saying something.

Of course, being on HBO, they get to go much, much further with both the sex and the violence. Naked Jason Stackhouse and Eric Northman are enough for a whole contingent of viewers, plot or no plot! But the sex and violence are in the context of a very compelling (and sometimes repellant) alternate world, where vampires, werewolves, shape-shifters, witches and other horror movie staples, are real. The "coming out of the coffin" and "God hates fangs" lines kind of give you a sense of the flavor of dark humor in the show. There are similarities to Buffy, and big differences. But, it's just addictive, ridiculous, scary, loopy fun. And it's coming to an end. Season 7 is the last, though I have to say, they really could squeeze a lot more out of the concept. I understand after this long, you tend to lose cast members. But I'd love to see a True Blood: The Next Generation in a couple of years.
 

Mini Movie Review: Fright Night (2011)

Okay, so one of the things I wanted to do with my vast (now, nearly depleted) Christmas vacation, was to catch up on some movies. I don't get out to the moving pictures much, unless my friend Stupid Monkey Planet entices me out for a brew and a view.  So, one of the 2011 movies I missed was the remake of the classic 80s horror/comedy flick, Fright Night. The original is treasured by folks of my vintage (seventies/eighties pop culture fiends), but it is not--by any stretch--award winning cinema.

Image from Wikipedia

The original Fright Night starred a pre-Herman's Head William Ragsdale, a pre-Married. . .with Children's Amanda Bearse, a pre-gay porn Stephen Geoffreys and a post-Susan Sarandon Chris Sarandon. It was as much humor as horror, and is a pastiche of the 80s. I loved it then, I loved it later, and I. . .kind of. . .like it now. It is simply a product of its era. So, quite rightly, a remake should be of its current era.

Whether it is or not is a question for a future time, and for a student of the twenty-pre-teens. As it is, I quite liked it. Anton Yelchin (2011's Star Trek's Chekov) stars in the Ragsdale role of Charley Brewster. As in the original, Brewster is the unfortunate neighbor of new home owner Jerry Dandridge (Colin Farrell), a vampire. As in the original, Brewster comes to realize Dandridge's real nature with the assistance of his nerdy friend Evil Ed. And Evil Ed gets to live up to his name this time too.

Chris Sarandon, the original sexy vampire.

The new version amps up the effects (the original's were effective the first time, but don't hold up well upon repeated viewings), and has the advantage of almost thirty years in technology. Farrell is at least as sexy as Sarandon (who appears in a cameo), but lacks the subtlety of the original. The change in venue to Las Vegas makes sense, but will not fool a near-native like me. And there is something about modern movie making that simply surpasses the art of the 1980s. But the charm of the original is lacking.

I liked 2011's Fright Night. It even made me jump at least once, matching the original. But will it rate in my lifetime top 100, to be viewed over and over as I age into oblivion? Probably not.

My rating: *** (on a scale from crap to *****, genre always kept firmly in mind)

News of the Weird: Vampire Woman Bites Old Man

Who says vampires don't age?
Image from source, The Smoking Gun.

I was reading the following excerpted story--which was helpfully passed along by Stupid Monkey Planet--and I was shocked, I tell you, shocked. That woman is only 22 years old? Frightening.

[Excerpt]


Female "Vampire" Busted In Bloody Biting Attack 

A Florida woman who claimed to be a “vampire” last night attacked an elderly man, biting him on the face and arm and tearing away chunks of his skin, according to police.
Josephine Smith, 22, was arrested today and charged with felony aggravated battery on an elderly person. Smith, seen in the mug shot at right, was booked into the Pinellas County Jail, where she is being held in lieu of $50,000 bail. . .

Read more at: The Smoking Gun

Get Ready: HBO's True Blood Made a FOX "News" Joke

At least Eric doesn't prounce her name, "Sook-eh."
Image from source, Rolling Stone

 

. . .And you can bet that some conservatives are going to freak out about it. I don't care. I laughed out loud, which is something that rarely happens when I watch television. In fact, the last time was when--on last week's True Blood--Eric Northman ate Sookie's fairy godmother.

[Excerpt]


'True Blood' Recap: Sookie and Eric Get Closer, the Witches Get More Powerful and It's Time for a Vampire History Lesson
 
 . . .With plan A a bust, Bill turns to plan B: Recruit the four remaining sheriffs of the Louisiana area to his home for a strategy session, where we finally get the history lesson that explains who Marnie's goddess is: a 17th century Spanish sorceress named Antonia, who was burned at the stake and used necromancy to pull all vampires within 20 miles into the daylight, including priests and nuns. "Vampires have often found it advantageous to maintain a hidden presence in humanity's most powerful institutions," Bill explains. "In the 1600s that was the Catholic church. Today, as you all know, it's Google and Fox News." Despite the heavy desire to wage war, Bill upholds the Authority's mandate that any spilled mortal blood results in the true death. The devil is indeed in the details. . .

Read more at: Rolling Stone