Showing posts with label castles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label castles. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 22, 2017
Sunday, September 23, 2012
The Terror (1963)
Who's in it?: Boris Karloff; Jack Nicholson (yes, THAT Jack Nicholson); Sandra Knight (Frankenstein's Daughter, Thunder Road)
What's it about?: An officer (Nicholson) is separated from Napoleon's army and gets entangled in ghostly goings on in a baron's (Karloff) spooky castle.
How is it?: Hammer horror a la Roger Corman. Corman does a nice job replicating the mood of Hammer films, but there are two major problems with The Terror. First, Jack Nicholson is as convincing as you imagine he'd be playing a French officer. He's a strangely likable hero, but completely out of place in this period piece.
The more serious problem though is that the story makes no sense. It starts off confusing enough with Nicholson's meeting a girl (Knight) who may be a local villager in thrall to a witch, some sort of Ladyhawke-like were-raptor, the ghost of Karloff's dead wife, or something else entirely. That's all weird and cool; I like being kept on my toes. But the more twists and surprise revelations the screenplay reveals, the less it all holds together. By the end, there's some whackadoo supernatural stuff going on that can't be resolved with the rest of the stor; it's just there to be shocking.
Karloff was 76 years old when he made The Terror, so he's not very physical in it, except in the climax. I don't want to spoil details, but the biggest shock in the film is Karloff's impressive burst of activity at the end after watching him shuffle slowly around the castle for the first hour. Regardless of his activity level though, Karloff easily outacts everyone else in the movie.
Rating: Turkey, but worth watching for Karloff fans or anyone interested in the novelty of young Jack Nicholson and Roger Corman's trying to emulate Hammer's period-horror films.
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Nightmare Castle (1965)
Who's in it?: Barbara Steele (The Pit and the Pendulum, Piranha)
What's it about?: A scientist kills his unfaithful wife and her lover, then marries her twin step-sister (?!), to try to claim her fortune. Too bad the wife and her boyfriend aren't quite done with the doctor just yet.
How is it?: Pretty ridiculous. Steele plays both the wife and her step-sister, which makes no sense. Why couldn't it just have been an honest-for-real twin sister? There's also an unnecessary plot about the doctor's trying to keep his own lover - an elderly housekeeper - young with some sort of essence he took from his wife's corpse and plans to take from the sister once he's done with her. More shades of The Corpse Vanishes. And the doctor's plan to drive his mentally unstable, new bride completely insane is totally reminiscent of Gaslight.
The movie does take place in a castle though with lots of secret passages and hidden rooms, so it has that going for it. And the ghosts of the wife and her lover are pretty spooky, though not as cool as they look on that poster.
Rating: Bad.
The movie does take place in a castle though with lots of secret passages and hidden rooms, so it has that going for it. And the ghosts of the wife and her lover are pretty spooky, though not as cool as they look on that poster.
Rating: Bad.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Too Much Information, Part One
Jaquandor answered these questions at Byzantium's Shores last week and it's been a while since I've done one of these too. They're good questions, though I've edited them for length and...well, timeliness, I guess. The original questions included the inspiration for asking them and - as Jaquandor points out - that dated the thing in a way it didn't need to.
So here's more than you wanted to know about me.
1. Have you ever been bothered by a TV show or movie series changing actors who play a character you love?
Not recently. When I was a kid, I remember losing whatever interest I had in Days of Our Lives when they swapped out Bo Bradys. Bo was pretty cool and I couldn’t buy the new actor. I guess they changed him back eventually, but my Days curiosity was always shaky at best, so I never came back.
The one that still bothers me is another old one: all the Felix Leiters in the James Bond movies. Some people think that replacing Felix actors every movie is funny or somehow endearing, but it’s not. Felix is a cool character in the novels and it bugs me that none of the movie fans know who I’m talking about because they can’t put a face to him. I was thrilled when Jeffrey Wright showed up again for Quantum of Solace, but it's too bad the character apparently isn’t in Skyfall at all.
2. What are some things people should know before spending time with you?
My eyes will begin to glaze over the moment you start talking about sports and I’ll have completely checked out by the time that conversation reaches the 30-second mark.
3. What is something you often do without realizing that you're doing it?
According to my wife, I have a Look. It’s the one that says you’re making absolutely no sense and I’m going to stop listening to you in 3…2…1…
This is related to Question No. 2. I’m an introvert and interacting with people one-on-one is hard work for me. Sometimes - though I try hard to hide it - I just don’t have the energy. I do a much better job at hiding it when I’m with people I don’t know that well though. Which leads me to…
4. Who has the capacity to make you angrier than anyone else in your life, and what in particular does he or she do to make you so angry?
My wife. I’m not going to get into particulars, because they aren’t important. Everyone has buttons that – when pushed – will get them going and I’m no different. Diane and I have a fantastic relationship and work hard not to push each other’s buttons, but when you’ve been married for a while (fifteen years for us, so far), you’re inevitably going to slip up every once in a while. I’d much rather focus on and celebrate how much we’ve been able to become a smoothly functioning team, but the question is about who has the capacity to tick you off and that’s always going to be the person you’re closest to.
5. If a fairy waved a magic wand and gave you the house of your dreams, where would it be and what features would it have?
A castle on the Scottish coast, but with central heat and air conditioning, and a modern kitchen and bathrooms. Also, a fireplace large enough to walk into.
6. What’s a belief that you hold with which many people disagree?
I’ve never had a conversation with anyone with whom I’ve seen totally eye-to-eye about God. I believe that the universe didn’t just happen – that it had to come from somewhere – but I don’t believe that the Genesis account should be read literally as an answer to that question. I also believe that the central message of Christianity is that people are supposed to love and take care of each other, but when I look at Christianity at large, I feel very alone in that interpretation.
7. If you were talking in your sleep tonight, what do you think you would say?
“I’ll nail yer suckers to the mast, ye scurvy squid!” (Totally stole that image from Stephen Keane. I'm sorry.)
8. Have you ever attended a midnight premiere showing of a movie?
I used to do this all the time, but as it became standard practice for theaters to run midnight showings, it became less of an event and I lost interest. By “event,” I mean an event for me personally. Obviously it’s still an event for a lot of people, but it became less fun for me and I’m rarely so excited about a new movie that I’ve got to see it the second it comes out. The last one may have been Pirates of the Caribbean 3, but I don’t rightly recall.
I could see myself doing it for The Hunger Games, though. I’m pretty stoked about that one.
9. How would you react if you saw, “Caution exotic animals; stay in your vehicle,” displayed on a road sign?
I’d roll up those windows and keep an eye out, but I’m not a panicky person. If I actually saw a tiger or something, I’d probably stop to gawk, depending on the animal’s mood.
10. If a company opened a theme park aimed at adults, what would you name one of the rides?
Alien vs. Predator: The Hunt. You would, of course, be the prey.
11. Imagine you just moved onto Sesame Street. Which puppet would you want as your new roommate?
I have a low tolerance for drama and shenanigans, so I’ll go with Kermit. He’s funny, but grounded.
12. Have you ever had a weird crush on a famous person that didn't make sense to you?
Matt Damon, because I’m straight. I understand all my crushes on famous women.
13. If you get ten minutes to interview any celebrity of your choice, who would you like it to be?
Bono. I’m currently reading his Conversation with Michka Assayas, so that may answer most of the actual questions I’ve got, but he was a hugely influential force on my life in my twenties, so I’d also just like to meet him.
14. You've just won the complete DVD collection of all the movies starring one actor or actress. Which actor/actress would you pick?
I used to try to collect all the movies by actors I liked. I accumulated a ton of stuff by Harrison Ford, Kenneth Branagh, and Sandra Bullock, but eventually learned that – like with all artists – I didn’t care for every single thing they did. But since I’m winning this and not buying it, the Johnny Depp collection probably has the most movies in it that I’d re-watch again and again.
15. What is something you've said through social media and then regretted it?
Most of this post.
16. What musician would you be most interested in learning behind-the-scenes facts about?
Someone new that I don’t know much about. Like Brite Futures. I’m curious about their influences and their name change from Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head.
17. If you stumbled across someone's personal written journal that was accidentally left in a public place, would you read any of the content?
Just enough to see if I could tell who it was in order to return it to them. I’m not naturally curious about other people’s personal stuff.
18. What is the title of a self-help book that you'd never want to see on a store bookshelf?
Develop Jedi Self-Confidence: Unleash the Force within You. Oh, crap.
19. Which Halloween costume do you think will be overdone this year?
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
20. Should a marriage license have a renewal date or expiration date, like a driver’s license?
I understand the reason for the question, but no. Actually, I’m not convinced we should have marriage licenses at all. I’m not a Libertarian, but marriage is a relationship that I’m not convinced that government (or a church, for that matter) should have any say about. Like most of life, we’ve overcomplicated something that’s very simple in concept (though extremely tough to execute in practice).
So here's more than you wanted to know about me.
1. Have you ever been bothered by a TV show or movie series changing actors who play a character you love?
Not recently. When I was a kid, I remember losing whatever interest I had in Days of Our Lives when they swapped out Bo Bradys. Bo was pretty cool and I couldn’t buy the new actor. I guess they changed him back eventually, but my Days curiosity was always shaky at best, so I never came back.
The one that still bothers me is another old one: all the Felix Leiters in the James Bond movies. Some people think that replacing Felix actors every movie is funny or somehow endearing, but it’s not. Felix is a cool character in the novels and it bugs me that none of the movie fans know who I’m talking about because they can’t put a face to him. I was thrilled when Jeffrey Wright showed up again for Quantum of Solace, but it's too bad the character apparently isn’t in Skyfall at all.
2. What are some things people should know before spending time with you?
My eyes will begin to glaze over the moment you start talking about sports and I’ll have completely checked out by the time that conversation reaches the 30-second mark.
3. What is something you often do without realizing that you're doing it?
According to my wife, I have a Look. It’s the one that says you’re making absolutely no sense and I’m going to stop listening to you in 3…2…1…
This is related to Question No. 2. I’m an introvert and interacting with people one-on-one is hard work for me. Sometimes - though I try hard to hide it - I just don’t have the energy. I do a much better job at hiding it when I’m with people I don’t know that well though. Which leads me to…
4. Who has the capacity to make you angrier than anyone else in your life, and what in particular does he or she do to make you so angry?
My wife. I’m not going to get into particulars, because they aren’t important. Everyone has buttons that – when pushed – will get them going and I’m no different. Diane and I have a fantastic relationship and work hard not to push each other’s buttons, but when you’ve been married for a while (fifteen years for us, so far), you’re inevitably going to slip up every once in a while. I’d much rather focus on and celebrate how much we’ve been able to become a smoothly functioning team, but the question is about who has the capacity to tick you off and that’s always going to be the person you’re closest to.
5. If a fairy waved a magic wand and gave you the house of your dreams, where would it be and what features would it have?
A castle on the Scottish coast, but with central heat and air conditioning, and a modern kitchen and bathrooms. Also, a fireplace large enough to walk into.
6. What’s a belief that you hold with which many people disagree?
I’ve never had a conversation with anyone with whom I’ve seen totally eye-to-eye about God. I believe that the universe didn’t just happen – that it had to come from somewhere – but I don’t believe that the Genesis account should be read literally as an answer to that question. I also believe that the central message of Christianity is that people are supposed to love and take care of each other, but when I look at Christianity at large, I feel very alone in that interpretation.
7. If you were talking in your sleep tonight, what do you think you would say?
“I’ll nail yer suckers to the mast, ye scurvy squid!” (Totally stole that image from Stephen Keane. I'm sorry.)
8. Have you ever attended a midnight premiere showing of a movie?
I used to do this all the time, but as it became standard practice for theaters to run midnight showings, it became less of an event and I lost interest. By “event,” I mean an event for me personally. Obviously it’s still an event for a lot of people, but it became less fun for me and I’m rarely so excited about a new movie that I’ve got to see it the second it comes out. The last one may have been Pirates of the Caribbean 3, but I don’t rightly recall.
I could see myself doing it for The Hunger Games, though. I’m pretty stoked about that one.
9. How would you react if you saw, “Caution exotic animals; stay in your vehicle,” displayed on a road sign?
I’d roll up those windows and keep an eye out, but I’m not a panicky person. If I actually saw a tiger or something, I’d probably stop to gawk, depending on the animal’s mood.
10. If a company opened a theme park aimed at adults, what would you name one of the rides?
Alien vs. Predator: The Hunt. You would, of course, be the prey.
11. Imagine you just moved onto Sesame Street. Which puppet would you want as your new roommate?
I have a low tolerance for drama and shenanigans, so I’ll go with Kermit. He’s funny, but grounded.
12. Have you ever had a weird crush on a famous person that didn't make sense to you?
Matt Damon, because I’m straight. I understand all my crushes on famous women.
13. If you get ten minutes to interview any celebrity of your choice, who would you like it to be?
Bono. I’m currently reading his Conversation with Michka Assayas, so that may answer most of the actual questions I’ve got, but he was a hugely influential force on my life in my twenties, so I’d also just like to meet him.
14. You've just won the complete DVD collection of all the movies starring one actor or actress. Which actor/actress would you pick?
I used to try to collect all the movies by actors I liked. I accumulated a ton of stuff by Harrison Ford, Kenneth Branagh, and Sandra Bullock, but eventually learned that – like with all artists – I didn’t care for every single thing they did. But since I’m winning this and not buying it, the Johnny Depp collection probably has the most movies in it that I’d re-watch again and again.
15. What is something you've said through social media and then regretted it?
Most of this post.
16. What musician would you be most interested in learning behind-the-scenes facts about?
Someone new that I don’t know much about. Like Brite Futures. I’m curious about their influences and their name change from Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head.
17. If you stumbled across someone's personal written journal that was accidentally left in a public place, would you read any of the content?
Just enough to see if I could tell who it was in order to return it to them. I’m not naturally curious about other people’s personal stuff.
18. What is the title of a self-help book that you'd never want to see on a store bookshelf?
Develop Jedi Self-Confidence: Unleash the Force within You. Oh, crap.
19. Which Halloween costume do you think will be overdone this year?
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
20. Should a marriage license have a renewal date or expiration date, like a driver’s license?
I understand the reason for the question, but no. Actually, I’m not convinced we should have marriage licenses at all. I’m not a Libertarian, but marriage is a relationship that I’m not convinced that government (or a church, for that matter) should have any say about. Like most of life, we’ve overcomplicated something that’s very simple in concept (though extremely tough to execute in practice).
Friday, October 22, 2010
Art Show: Pocketses
What is he, My Precious?
By Sam Bosma. [Picture Book Report]
Conan
By John Buscema. [The Pictorial Arts]
By Evan Shaner.
The Hoard of the Gibbelins
By Sidney Sime. [Golden Age Comic Book Stories]
By Sam Bosma. [Picture Book Report]
Conan
By John Buscema. [The Pictorial Arts]
By Evan Shaner.
The Hoard of the Gibbelins
By Sidney Sime. [Golden Age Comic Book Stories]
Saturday, February 06, 2010
Art Show: Hot Blue Catwomen
The Little Mermaid
Artist Unknown [Animation Backgrounds]
Pirate Girls
By Richard Sala.
Cave Batman
By Andy Kubert. [The Source]
Zorro
By Francesco Francavilla.
Captain America
By Steve Epting.
Sherlock Holmes
By Francesco Francavilla.
Zatanna
By Stephane Roux.
By Ms. Mars.
John Carter
By Larry Ivie. [Golden Age Comic Book Stories]
Daughter of Pandora
By Grant Gould.
Artist Unknown [Animation Backgrounds]
Pirate Girls
By Richard Sala.
Cave Batman
By Andy Kubert. [The Source]
Zorro
By Francesco Francavilla.
Captain America
By Steve Epting.
Sherlock Holmes
By Francesco Francavilla.
Zatanna
By Stephane Roux.
By Ms. Mars.
John Carter
By Larry Ivie. [Golden Age Comic Book Stories]
Daughter of Pandora
By Grant Gould.
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
A Week at Sea: Octo-Samurai. We're screwed.
The Three Musketeers
By Mead Schaeffer.
I know that the Musketeers have absolutely nothing to do with the sea, but I tend to lump them in with other swashbucklers like Captain Blood, etc., so for me they're sort of second-cousins to pirates. And they did cross the English Channel a lot.
The Blue Fairy Book
By Frank Godwin.
Dead men tell lots of tales, actually
Animation background from The Rescuers.
Your 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Picture of the Day
By Alphonse de Neuville.
Mer-man
By Matthew S. Armstrong.
Why my son will never be able to read my blog...
My boy's got a severe phobia of tentacles and suction cups. I think I'm developing one too after seeing this. But I appreciate Calvin for staying on the watchtower and letting us know what the Evil Cephalopodic Forces are up to.
Octo-Samurai. We're screwed.
By Mead Schaeffer.
I know that the Musketeers have absolutely nothing to do with the sea, but I tend to lump them in with other swashbucklers like Captain Blood, etc., so for me they're sort of second-cousins to pirates. And they did cross the English Channel a lot.
The Blue Fairy Book
By Frank Godwin.
Dead men tell lots of tales, actually
Animation background from The Rescuers.
Your 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Picture of the Day
By Alphonse de Neuville.
Mer-man
By Matthew S. Armstrong.
Why my son will never be able to read my blog...
My boy's got a severe phobia of tentacles and suction cups. I think I'm developing one too after seeing this. But I appreciate Calvin for staying on the watchtower and letting us know what the Evil Cephalopodic Forces are up to.
Octo-Samurai. We're screwed.
Girl and Castle
I don't really know how to categorize these. They're just a couple of miscellaneous fantasy-type images that I find inspirational. The second one's not even technically a fantasy illustration, but I love the mystery in it. Who's that guy waiting for?
By Tim Mcburnie.
By Jules Guerin.
By Tim Mcburnie.
By Jules Guerin.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Adventureblog Gallery: Magical
Hubba hubba
By WT Benda.
Castle
By Franklin Booth.
Totoro forest
By Jackson Sze. And there's lots more just as wonderful by other artists too at the Totoro Forest Project.
Woodfolk
By J. Allen St. John?
Somebody's in trouble
By Sanjulian.
By WT Benda.
Castle
By Franklin Booth.
Totoro forest
By Jackson Sze. And there's lots more just as wonderful by other artists too at the Totoro Forest Project.
Woodfolk
By J. Allen St. John?
Somebody's in trouble
By Sanjulian.
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